Drawing on a review of literature and telephone interviews of state agency staff in 25 states, the paper identifies traditional and emerging forms of state differential treatment of districts. The author discusses potential benefits and disadvantages of various approaches to differential treatment and suggests areas for further research. [This report was written with assistance from Patti Fry. It was presented at the La Follette Conference on Choice and Control in American Education held at the University of WIsconsin-Madison, May 17-19, 1989. It is a reissue of the December 1989 CPRE Research Report RR-016 under the same title (ED315903).]