This paper analyzes obstacles to educational equity by focusing on state policies and local actions in Massachusetts from 1978 to 1983. Three obstacles are examined in particular: conflicting state-level priorities, the tax revolt movement, and local autonomy. (TE)

Educational Service Agencies (ESA's) are public education agencies that provide specialized programs and services to a group of school districts in a specified geographical region and to the state department of education. Most states have encouraged the development of ESA's that have either evolved out of county districts or have been created to…

Describes current practices in Illinois where a personnel reimbursement formula is used to finance special education. Summarizes the basic components of the Resource Cost Model (RCM), a complex school finance formula, and compares and contrasts RCM with Illinois' current method of financing special education. (MLF)

This paper delineates the purposes of a symposium that was based on a major study of the California School Improvement Program (SIP). The problem of increasing the capacity of schools to implement reform efforts is conceptualized. To explore this issue, a conceptual framework was developed, based on the case study and survey data from the first…

In the Connecticut School Effectiveness Project, data are collected on seven characteristics of effective schooling: safe and orderly environment, clear school mission, instructional leadership, high expectations, opportunity to learn and time on task, frequent monitoring of student progress, and home-school relations. These data are collected…

Based on similar studies conducted in 1978 and 1983, this paper provides information on changes in state department of education (SEA) evaluation units over a 5-year period and an update on current conditions. In brief, there appears to have been substantial reductions in the size of SEA evaluation unit staffs. While the majority of studies…

Florida's Educational Reform Act of 1983 delineated a desired state for science K-12. In 1987, a study was conducted to determine the extent to which elementary school teachers were aware of the State's requirements and standards and were able to implement instruction to meet them. The format used to present and interpret the data was a…

Florida's Meritorious School Act provides monetary rewards for meritorious schools in each of the state's 67 districts when the schools are identified using approved procedures. The law calls for each district to develop its own plan for selecting winning schools. Each school must be selected in part by being in the upper quartile of district…

Separate schools were introduced into Ontario between 1841 and 1867 when Upper Canada was joined with Lower Canada to form the United Province of Canada. The school acts of 1841 and 1843 outlined the basic arrangements by which either a Roman Catholic or a Protestant minority might establish a dissenting separate school board. Since the School Act…

This study examines the effects of the 1979 Oregon Property Tax Relief Plan on 1980-81 school district budget decisions by comparing the available tax relief, the school expenditures, and the tax levies in the state for the years 1975-81. The history of direct and indirect property tax relief in Oregon is sketched for the years prior to 1979; the…

Most systems of administrative control include both formal and informal, explicit and implicit evaluative mechanisms that sense deviation from standards and activate corrective actions to return subordinates to acceptable levels of performance or to correct beliefs. A review of prior studies showed, however, that few school districts have specific…

The two papers in this document focus on two different major educational reforms and their continuing central issues in California's comprehensive school finance legislation of 1981. The first report, "The Waiver Process for California's Educational Code," by David R. Pacheco, examines the legislation that delegated to nonelected board…

Many strategy options are open to state education agencies interested in developing statewide programs to support and guide local school improvement efforts. Agencies can focus on instructional improvement, more general school improvement, improvement of the curricular program, or changes in educational structures. Factors influencing which of…

The discovery of disproportionate minority enrollments in special education classes has been a subject of considerable concern to federal, state, and local education officials alike for the past decade. Because the existence of disproportions is frequently thought to result from discriminatory placement practices on the part of local school…

This article reviews the current status of school finance in California in the aftermath of Proposition 13 and the Serrano v. Priest decision (which required determination of school funding on some basis other than district property wealth). Specific trends and directions regarding reform issues of the future are identified. (TE)