While initiative in educational policy formation has shifted increasingly away from local and federal to state-level policy systems, policy problems continue to be compounded by intellectual problems related to weak conceptualization and inadequate analysis. Policy debates of the 20th Century have focused successively on education efficiency, equity, and in the 1980s, quality. The great variety and lack of clarity of new state programs attempting to balance these three policy goals suggest the need for a systematic taxonomy of key state policy elements. Although several empirical taxonomies have previously been proposed, a theoretical taxonomy is needed for the classification of state policy straategies. Such a taxonomy may emphasize social values, economic consequences, or as in the present study, the basic control mechanisms of various policy choices. State policy makers have at their disposal seven such mechanisms: (1) structural organization of the school, (2) revenue generation, (3) resource allocation, (4) educational program definition and accreditation, (5) personnel training and certification, (6) testing and assessment of student progress, and (7) curriculum materials development and selection. Further research is needed to determine how these mechanisms might interact with each other to enable schools to pursue the three historical goals of public schooling. (JBM)