This collection of case studies of eight states--California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Virginia, Wyoming--documents a 1981-82 investigation of federal and state administrative interactions across a select sample of federal education programs. To represent a wide spectrum of political, economic, and institutional environments relevant to educational policy administration, six criteria were used in picking the sample, including (1) state support for education, (2) state fiscal stress, (3) regional location, and (4) state political culture. A second set of factors included state efforts to coordinate federal and state special pupil programs and state policies of particular interest. Each case study relied on documentary material and personal interviews with an average of 40 individuals at the state and local levels. Topics studied included state management of federal and state programs, and state political environment. Results indicate that (1) both federal and state governments are shapers of state education policy decisions, (2) federal and state policy priorities for special students are frequently divergent, (3) state educational agencies are better organized than 15 years ago but dependent on federal dollars, and (4) intergovernmental conflicts between state and federal governments are relatively mild and uncommon. (JBM)