State-endorsed education service agency (ESA) type organizations are found in 26 state school systems, 23 of which have a complete statewide network serving all local districts. These organizations promote collaboration among local school districts in substate regions or serve as a conduit for implementation of state initiatives. This report…

An extensive study, reported in three separately published sections, was made to determine primary aspects of the current consolidation and redistricting of local school districts. Basic procedures used to gather information included a survey of related literature, visitations to county and intermediate educational agencies in Iowa and other…

Thanks to the economies of scale inherent in networks of education services agencies (ESAs), these agencies can provide small rural schools with access to programs, services, and technical assistance that otherwise might be unavailable. Typical core services of ESAs, historic roots, evaluation of ESAs in Iowa and Texas, and trends in ESA funding…

Based upon the historical review and case studies reported in the first section, section II develops a rationale for restructuring the county school system or middle echelon unit of school administration in the State of Iowa and for determining the need for a unit of school government operating between local school districts and the State…

Major aspects of the project are reviewed in four chapters: (1) An introductory review of the study's background; (2) the major needs of public elementary and secondary education in Iowa and the need for a new type of educational service agency; (3) major recommendations of the study, discussed under 10 categories; and (4) major benefits resulting…

This book examines the role of the educational service agency (ESA) in the process of enabling and facilitating rural school improvement. The introductory chapter discusses the continuing significance of rural education, service to rural districts as an explicit reason for establishing ESAs, and the characteristics of several types of ESAs.…

Developing the themes presented in sections I and II, a model is presented for the development of a multicounty regional educational service agency for a selected area of the State, comprising seven east central Iowa county school systems. Considered as a guide for planning, the model is described in seven chapters, including an introductory…

This paper presents a description of the emerging middle echelon unit of school government--the Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA). The document defines RESA's as those offices of school government sandwiched between State and local school district levels and considers the development of the regional educational service agency concept in…

This report emphasizes the major organizational and program patterns of the regional education service agencies (RESAs) operating in Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan, New York, and Oregon. The State laws governing RESA units and the units' organizational patterns and their…

The appendix to the study illustrates the three instruments used for gathering data and the four sets of statistical tabulations serving as a basis for the study's recommendations. The instruments are (1) a questionnaire regarding selected characteristics of Iowa county school systems; (2) a questionnaire regarding alternative methods for the…