Requirements of Mississippi legislation designed to upgrade student achievement and school personnel competence, reward good teaching, increase accountability, and facilitate state level educational leadership are clarified in this implementation guide. For each section of the Reform Act the rationale is summarized, statutory citations provided,…

This paper reports on a study of the 1980 Maryland State Department of Education school improvement project utilizing Mastery Learning. It examines the instructional process implementation, the impact of one pilot school, and the statewide program through observation, surveys, interviews, document analysis, and participant self-reports. Data were…

Section 2 of the 1980 version of Pennsylvania's Long Range Plan for School Improvement (LRPSI) might be characterized as a "catch-all." The technical assistant faces the task of making connections both within this section, entitled "Management Planning," and among the remaining four sections of LRPSI. The following directives…

Vocational education funding strategies currently in use by each state were analyzed to provide insights into the strategies used by other states that might be useful in modifying Arizona's methods for funding vocational education. An extensive review of national studies concerning vocational education funding was conducted, and each of the states…

The effects of Chapter 2 block grants on fund distribution, programs, and school district spending, and the role played in Chapter 2 implementation by parents and citizens were investigated. Interim findings include the following: (1) there has been a massive redistribution of Federal funds away from States serving large numbers of poor nonwhite…

This report by the Committee on Excellence and Equity in Education provides 38 recommendations for improvement of public elementary and secondary schools in New Hampshire. The committee divided itself into four subcommittees that focused on recommendations pertaining to each of the following groups: (1) State Board of Education, State Department…

This report describes and evaluates the initial effects of the 1984 Texas Education Reform Bill (House Bill 72), in which the Texas legislature enacted a massive attempt to enhance both equity and effectiveness in the State's system of elementary and secondary education. Chapter 1 describes the Bill's various financing components and focuses on…

This case study considers why community members of two rural New York School districts reacted so strongly against a referendum for school district reorganization in February 1983. State and local school officials introduced into this reorganization effort a unique plan designed to achieve community support for the merger. Rather than have the…

The history of school district reorganization in New York State over the past 150 years is examined. Basic research tools included a survey of present and former district superintendents, contacts with former State Education Department personnel, and reports from other leading figures and past participants. Sections are included on: the historical…

New Jersey has proposed state and local programs to help solve educational problems in the areas of the teaching profession, student performance, and educational leadership. To continue a supply of talented teachers, the state has developed initiatives such as a minimum salary increase, a recruitment program for top high school graduates, reformed…

These papers were presented at the symposium "Using Statewide Basic Skills Tests to Make Promotion Decisions: Political and Psychometric Issues." The development of basic skills testing and the legislative mandate that needed to be implemented for minimum competency testing in Louisiana are discussed by Hugh I. Peck. Rebecca S. Christian…

This survey was conducted to determine how state education agencies were addressing the issue of mathematics, science, and vocational education. Questions concerned (1) the current state of their vocational programs in relation to increased emphasis on mathematics and science for high school students; (2) presence or absence of a state policy that…

This document is a history of Wisconsin's equalization aid formula, embodying all the formula studies conducted since 1947, along with all the actions taken by Wisconsin legislatures and governors since 1927. The introduction provides the constitutional and statutory rationale for state education aid, and lists the committees that have studied the…

This report examines the process through which the Minnesota state government established school policy during the 1970s. The analysis focuses on who shaped state school policy and how they did it. The data come in part from personal interviews to determine the perceptions key participants had of the state school policy system. These interview…

A historical baseline report on the Edgewood Independent School District of San Antonio, Texas, was prepared by external evaluators to give direction to the coming evaluation of a National Institute of Education (NIE) Experimental Schools (ES) Program, designed to raise pupil achievement through improved administration and instruction, coupled…