Following a brief preface, chapter 1 of this study discusses the federal government's expanding role over the last half century, including changing federal and state responsibilities in education. While chapter 2 describes the study's conceptual framework, its methodology, the criteria used for selecting eight states for analysis, and the major characteristics of each of the state's educational policies, chapter 3 analyzes the mix and design of federal educational policies and programs that have evolved to influence state and local actions. Findings show that while each of the six federal service programs studied possessed a unique strategy, several federal programs issued inconsistent and ambiguous development and implementation signals. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the political environments in the case states, including the impact of these contextual factors on program administration. Findings indicate a robust and diverse federal/state governance system devoid of significant general intergovernmental conflict between the states and the federal government. Chapter 6 assesses the balance of federal-state educational governance in 1981-82, summarizes the study's major conclusions, and notes their implications for altering current federal education programs. The study concludes with an appendix offering a categorization scheme for textual legal analysis. (JBM)