A comprehensive descriptive study of educational service agencies (ESAs), this project sought to provide an initial database on ESAs that could support future inquiry, to assemble information on present practice that could be used by states to guide the formation of new ESA systems or the modification of existing ones, and to develop an improved…

Focusing on one of the most critical and complex aspects of the concept of the regional educational service agency (RESA), the paper questions whether RESA's should be an arm of the state educational agency, pure creatures of constituent local school districts, or pure special district governments. The critical dimensions of the issue being…

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…

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…