The purposes of this study were: (1) to ascertain the extent to which urban school systems have decentralized the administration of their schools, (2) to obtain opinions on its workability in terms of curriculum development, (3) to begin development of an instrument for clarifying role and function issues at various echelons of decision-making, (4) to analyze and contrast avowed purposes of decentralization with actual results in terms of moving decision-making closer to the levels affected, (5) to obtain information to help understand more about the change mechanisms now utilized in urban school systems. A mail survey of some 50 of the nation's largest school districts was made. It was found that the trend toward administrative decentralization has accelerated during the past five years. Only New York and Detroit have adopted a community control organization model having regional school boards with policy-making and resource allocation authority. Most urban curriculum leaders felt there was much need for curriculum specialists. There was evidence that accountability for curriculum improvement may not have been substantially strengthened. A strong leadership role on the part of regional office personnel has not yet emerged. Considerable effort has been made to obtain citizen participation at the building level. (Author/JM)