This report is one of six to be released by as many task forces on educational improvement and reform. The eight sections of this report include: (a) an introduction, which discusses the work of the task force; (b) an overview of the development and current operation of state education agencies (SEAs); (c) a view of the SEA as an effective change agent; (d) a discussion of accountability as a basis of reform; (e) a discussion of the utilization of competency-based teacher education/certification as a means of educational reform; (f) an overview of the status of women in education with regard to employment in the field and curriculum content; (g) a list of selected areas of program development; and (h) a program of fiscal reform in education. The areas designated for program improvement are career education, adult and continuing education, bilingual-bicultural education, early childhood education, Indian education, and educational television. The task force's fiscal concerns center around the issues of (a) continuity of support for program development; (b) adequate levels of federal funding; (c) flexibility in the use of federal funds; (d) timeliness of federal appropriations; (e) administrative impoundment of appropriated funds; and (f) the responsibility of individual states to support education and equalize educational opportunity. The report includes a 49-item bibliography. (HMD)