A survey of the chief state school officers asked respondents to consider 50 recommendations of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, and to determine whether the situation indicated by the recommendations described the state's current situation, or, if it did not, what their intentions were for the future. Areas covered in the recommendations concerned: (1) instructional content; (2) standards and expectations; (3) the effective use of instructional time in the existing school day, or extended school day or year; (4) improvement of teaching and teacher education and certification; and (5) leadership and fiscal support. The second section of the survey asked the respondents to identify programs which their states had implemented in the past few years which meet some of the problems identified by the Commission. Responses are summarized in narrative form with examples of selected state actions described. Brief reports are given on some continuing efforts for reform. The appendixes include a chart presenting the massed responses of 43 states on each of the 50 recommendations. (JD)