Online learning and our current system of local education governance are at odds with one another, to say the least. In this paper, John Chubb examines how local school district control retards the widespread use of instructional technologies. He argues that the surest way to break down the system's inherent resistance to technology is to shift…

This report describes how California is providing direct intervention to improve structures and processes in districts, which is intended over time to improve curriculum, instruction, and student achievement at the school level. For districts subject to federal Corrective Action under NCLB, California's approach is "top down" in that…

This report focuses on the increasing number of problems clustered around state coordination of academic programs in community colleges. State directors and their staffs are becoming concerned with preventing duplication and ineffectiveness and with positive long-range planning. Data are based on questionnaires mailed to state agencies responsible…

Traces the development of curricular diversity in community colleges and reviews the control and coordinating functions of curriculum governance in the community college systems of several states. Highlights the system of curriculum administration in Illinois, examining state-level and local processes. Contrasts formal definitions and…

The Connecticut statewide plan to facilitate the implementation of career education programs at the local level is discussed. Various forms of assistance offered by the State for this purpose are presented. (EC)

The authors report on major trends and emerging issues in state education policy-making. Two parts cover, first, the history, status, and future of educational governance and, second, the alternatives open to state leaders in structuring and using education commissions. In accounting for trends in educational governance, the authors consider such…

This adult education long-range staff development plan proposes a cooperative network to have impact on a minimum of 600 practitioners each year it is in full operation. In the first year, three elements will be put into operation. First, a staff development collaborative consisting of representatives of key agencies and groups to initiate,…

If community colleges are to gain the respect of the state, and thereby to free themselves from its debilitating and stultifying bureaucracy, the students, faculty, administrators, and trustees of each college must band together and demonstrate their strength by living in accord, planning carefully and intelligently, and by showing that they know…

It is argued that traditional notions of state-local relations as a zero-sum game need recasting. It appears that local effects of state policy are greater than those predicted on the basis of state capacity and that localities often gain, rather than lose, influence as a result of state policymaking. (TJH)

As a result of the increasing control that states have over community colleges, this Florida program, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has established a Center for State and Regional Leadership which aids in encouraging increased interaction between state agencies and colleges. (RN)

This document outlines a community-based state school system that allows a large degree of local autonomy in exchange for heightened accountability for school performance. It highlights a model education platform for candidates in the 1994 election. A system of educational excellence for the 21st century would be performance-based, locally…

Statewide community college planning processes in Connecticut seek to solve the inherent conflict between accountability and institutional autonomy by splitting the responsibility for plan development between state agencies and the colleges. To ensure that the state plan intersected with the college's plans, a three-step process was used: (1)…

This analysis focuses on the current patterns of linkage of local and intermediate education districts to State departmnts of education. Most of the literature offers suggestions and recommendations that State education departments increase their role in statewide coordination and in development and implementation of statewide educational policy.…

The Nebraska community colleges have recently re-obtained local funding and control of their institutions. This article reports on the factors that contributed to their success in convincing the state legislature to relinquish its control. (DC)

Comprehensive Statewide planning requires a change to a more open political style that will enlarge the opportunities for educators to exert their leadership in the mix of politics and planning. Wider discussion of objectives, more realistic appraisals of education's role as a state resource, and reaching essential agreements with political…