The Classroom Organization Study, conducted in Austin, Texas, was designed to answer some very specific questions about establishing and maintaining classroom organization in low socioeconomic status elementary schools that results in greater student time on task, exposure to content, and achievement. The ultimate purpose of the study was to produce knowledge of specific teacher behaviors that produce effective management of time, instructional materials, contacts between the teacher and students, student participation in classroom activities, and the external constraints imposed on teachers. This report details the history of the study, the training course received by observers, and data collection activities, and summarizes preliminary findings from the study. More effective organizers appeared to: (1) have thought in advance about rules and procedures necessary and to have established them before problems arose; (2) be able to plan activities and procedures with a student's perspective; and (3) introduce independent work gradually. The instruments used by the observers are reproduced in their entirety. The study, from its inception to completion, covered a time period from the school year of 1976-77 to the end of school in the spring of 1978. (JD)