To examine the relationships between the external environment in which a high school exists and the internal structure of the school, a study compared selected resource variables in Connecticut communities and the internal organizational characteristics of the 25 high schools in those communities. The literature suggests external environmental variables can account for variance in organizational structure. The researchers tested the applicability of this theory to educational organizations by administering the Structural Properties Questionnaire (SPQ) to 30 randomly sampled high school teachers in each of 25 single high school districts in Connecticut, reviewing the records of the Connecticut Department of Education and the Connecticut Public Expenditures Council, and analyzing the relationships between the structural properties of the high schools and the community background variables. The study confirmed that community resource variables are related to bureaucratic characteristics in schools, and verified the usefulness of the SPQ as a valid and reliable tool for assessing structure in schools. The study also found that a community's wealth per capita negatively affects school centralization of power, and student and staff competition for resources accounts for school complexity and specialization. (DCS)