A framework for studying educational institutions is presented and used to analyze girls' high schools in Japan from 1899 to 1928. The framework is based on understanding of the interactions among the role of the school or institution, individual personalities, the nature and extent of technological development, and biological systems (the dimension created by crossing individual and collective realities). A case study is presented of how this framework can be applied to an educational system--in this case, the schools authorized in Japan by the Higher Girls School Law of 1899. Dimensions used to analyze these schools include: (1) historical background (corresponds to the biological dimension--specifically, a comparison of a school's history and development with the development of an individual from birth through the senior citizen stage), (2) educational aims (corresponds to the role system), (3) family background of students (corresponds to the technological and economic development dimension), and (4) motivation of students to attend a higher girls school (corresponds to the personality dimension). Findings from the application of this framework to analysis of the higher girls schools indicated that the major school objective was to teach girls to be good wives and mothers. In addition, most girls who graduated from higher girls schools married men with higher education degrees; a high percentage of girls came from families headed by fathers in government and commercial positions or in the field of medicine. Finally, most of the students were highly motivated to continue their education to the higher girls school level (the highest level available to females during the time period under study) because they had performed well in primary school and were encouraged by parents and teachers to continue. (DB)