The basic research design reported in this paper includes technical substudies of the principal factors that affect a State's school finance program. Factors considered in this document include educational need and cost differentials among school districts, State and local taxation, the cost of delivering education, public school personnel, financing school construction, pupil transportation, school food service, and school district productivity. The basic rationale, research techniques, major findings, and conclusions are presented for each technical substudy. In the critique following the summarization of each study, attention is given to the adequacy of the overall research design, data requirements, and contribution of findings and recommendations to the total study, as well as to the general field of research in public school finance. The paper also describes the development of the final report on school finance and evaluates the effectiveness of the study. (Author/DN)