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at are the effects of schools on students? Do differences in organizational structure affect patterns of behavior within schools, thus contributing to these effects? To what extent does education affect not only short-term academic achievement, but long-term adult behavior? Such questions are at the heart of research in sociology of education. Usually, however, the problem has been posed as the relationship of education to work and socioeconomic status. The parallel question of the effect of education on leisure has remained relatively unexplored in social research. The question of how education affects leisure is important not only for Plato, who believed that education is for leisure, but also for contemporary social science, which seeks an empirically based understanding of the part schools and schooling actually play in society.This study evaluates a model predicting that one aspect of a school's organizational structure, its size, will have important effects on one aspect of the behavior

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The effectiveness of conflict resolution and peer mediation programs developed by community mediation centers in fourteen elementary, middle, and high schools was examined and compared with three schools without such programs. Teachers and other school personnel were interviewed and surveyed by mail, providing both qualitative and quantitative data. Positive impact was found on school discipline systems and curriculum. Teachers gained skills useful for teaching and class management. Schools developed enlarged visions of teaching students to take responsibility for their own actions. Problems identified by school personnel are analyzed, and six elements essential for successful programs are proposed.