The purpose of this study was to derive an operational definition of local control and to devise a model, the Local Control Index, for classifying degrees of local control by using the education codes of eight states--Arizona, California, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Local Control Index consists of four profiles--Professionalism, Finance, Control, and Curriculum--which represent those areas usually included or excluded in state education codes. Political culture, constitutional law, and history form the skeletal framework of the Local Control Index. After an introductory statement of the problem and procedure, a review of the literature covers historiography of local control and its treatment from the perspectives of political science, educational politics, and the courts. Local control is defined, accordingly, as the power of the electorate or community to influence the legislation or policy-making process of the state and local boards within the value base of a given political culture. A conceptual framework is thus developed for the Local Control Index, along with instrumentation and a computational model. The study concludes that local control of education is a function of political culture, based on the authoritatively allocated values of professionalism, finance, control, and curriculum. (Author/TE)