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…

Historically, U.S. school districts have led schooling, while state education agencies (SEAs) have held a largely regulatory role in school improvement. Yet, a recent reform strategy, the "state takeover," allows an SEA to assume direct governance of a low-performing district -- potentially creating a much more active role for state…

The article is a transcript of a talk given by the author at a University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Education symposium. He argues that the role of the state has changed quite dramatically since the 1960s. From the postwar period through the 1970s, there was an emphasis on expanding the state, and an emphasis on growing more…

This study examined teachers' attitudes and beliefs in one over-performing urban/suburban high school of the state-mandated curriculum framework under conditions that I label a continuously uncertain reform effort or a top-down mandated curriculum involving constant mixed-messages as to its content, accountability demands, and future existence.…

The report examines systems developed by Indiana, Wisconsin, and Louisiana to monitor interagency coordination of educational related services for handicapped children. The background and development of special education legislation in each of the three states are reviewed along with the structure of the state education agency (SEA). Each state is…

A detailed description is presented of four beginning teacher induction programs with focus on the areas of program intentions, critical program features, and implementation proceses. The four districts from which each program came are described but not identified. Checklists for the responsibilities of beginning teachers, teacher consultants,…

This study provides a brief overview of the current status of performance funding programs around the country, and compares California's Partnership for Excellence for Community Colleges with programs applicable to two-year institutions in five other states: Florida, Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The comparative analysis…

In its least complex form, a cooperative can be an informal agreement between two or more school districts to cooperatively accomplish some task. As a cooperative gets more formalized and organized, with its own staff, its operations become more removed the control of its constituents and member districts. The local school district's primary…

A follow-up survey was conducted of the 1978 Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) to ascertain what impact the Pennsylvania Statewide Assessment Program had on schools and school districts. The survey instrument consisted of 20 items tapping: (1) the quality of information and services provided; (2) dissemination activities engaged in by the…

The role of state departments of education (SDEs) is changing because of changes in patterns and demands in the administration of education. Three trends are easily identifiable--school consolidation, increased school district autonomy, and the demand for accountability. There is substantial evidence that SDEs have not readily adjusted to these…

Oil-industry-produced revenues, help finance Alaskan state and local governmental services including education. Capital losses incurred by the Exxon Corporation and by commerical fisheries as a consequence of the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused an economic recession, the result being diminished financing for a number of governmental programs and…

In 1983 the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 813, which appropriated an additional one billion dollars yearly for each of 4 years to the schools. Most of the additional money was distributed through the state's general aid formula. However, a portion of the money was offered through eight other new programs designed to encourage specific…

The central education policy question for the next several years is whether the state educational reform movement can be maintained. One concern in the development of education policy is whether the money necessary to accomplish these changes will be available. First, funding increases for education reform since 1983 are examined. Second, the…

This paper reports on an evaluation of implementation strategies of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA), Chapter 2 in New York State. It documents the origin of the state plan and how New York State education agencies coordinated their efforts to distribute ECIA local assistance and competitive grant monies to school districts…

Washington's recently enacted Student Learning Objectives Law demands that local districts implement a program designed to provide statewide educational accountability. The law ignores the complexity of such an implementation, providing no funding, no rewards for success, no assistance or training in developing implementation techniques, and a…