Alaska Statute 14.03.120 mandates that each school district file an annual educational planning report that establishes its educational improvement goals and priorities and outlines strategies for achieving and measuring these goals and for ensuring community participation. Although each district has developed its own goals, strategies, and…

In 1991, the Oregon State Legislature passed the Educational Act for the 21st Century. Since then, schools around the state have reacted in a variety of ways in an attempt to meet or avoid the law's requirements. A survey of schools and focus-group data from 18 Oregon schools were used to examine the policy articulation process from three…

Strategies for reducing by one-half the school dropout rate in the southern United States are presented in this report. Sixteen recommendations made by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) are discussed. These involve the following general areas: setting local goals, focusing on student outcomes, improving the reporting system, and…

Montana's House Bill No. 28, an effort to equalize school funding among Montana public school districts, is described in this report. Included are: the study resolution; summary of committee recommendations; history of the school funding lawsuit and legislative reactions; explanations of elements of the new school funding mechanism, changes in…

Traces the historical development of different approaches to special education, discusses the financial implications of the various approaches, and examines a number of alternative methods for financing the capital facilities costs and instructional operating costs of special education. (JG)

This study was conducted in 1988-1989 to examine the current status of drug education in the public schools in Nebraska. The sample consisted of the 215 attendance centers (out of 280 surveyed) which responded to the study questionnaire. This information was sought: (1) the percentage of schools offering drug education as a part of their regular…

In rural Minnesota many school districts are limited in their efforts to restructure by low enrollment, rural geographic location, meager tax base, narrow staff experience, extensive job responsibilities for staff, restricted staff development opportunities, and lack of direction in curriculum coordination. Because of actual or perceived…

On average, local governments in nonmetropolitan counties spent about 10% less per pupil on primary and secondary education than local governments in metro counties in 1982. However, national averages obscure a huge variation in education spending among nonmetro counties. Per pupil spending was about 47% higher than the national average in totally…

During the 1988-89 school year, two local school districts were placed into "Phase III" of the Kentucky Educational Improvement Act (1978), a category of state receivership in which much local decision-making power was transferred to Kentucky Department of Education officials. When state education department intervention occurs, major…

More than 20 states have adopted some form of regulation-relief legislation for their public schools. Two major issues confront the movement to deregulate the schools. The first is that there have been surprisingly few takers of regulation waivers; and second, whether, even if current deregulation efforts are successful, the end result is really…

This paper, which consists of two parts, suggests criteria for the consideration of Washington State school superintendents engaged in creating racially integrated schools. Part I identifies components of an integrated school district, focusing on: access to schools, classes, and programs; staffing; facilities; curriculum; parental involvement;…

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 On Site Needs Assessment and Long-range Planning (OSP) Model designed by the Michigan department of Education's Office of Sex Equity is a consultation service provided at the request of Michigan's local or intermediate school districts. The first of the OSP Model's three phases covers assessment of a district's level of sex equity and degree…

The report updates aspects of the 1977 report on California's Master Plan for Special Education. Reasons are sought for the intense debate over state funding for special education, which has substantially increased over recent years while special education enrollments have increased only modestly. In visits to nearly 100 local education agencies,…

This document contains brief descriptions of 100 school district initiatives taken in response to legislator and state department of education mandated educational reforms. Each description, contributed by a paticipant, is indexed by reform category, school district cluster, implementation level, and state. Section divisions in the index of reform…