The report presents findings from a 2-year evaluation of the implementation of Chapter 766, the Massachusetts comprehensive special education law. The evaluation included 10 substudies of issues related to special education. Most of the findings contained in the final report are based on coordinated case studies of 15 school districts and on a statewide survey. The report begins with background information on Chapter 766 and highlights major evaluation findings, including that the law still is supported by a broad political spectrum in the state; that school staff expressed negative feelings about the paper work involved in implementing the law; that the law has been largely effective in making a range of educational services available to all handicapped students aged 3 to 21; that secondary education has been greatly affected by the law but chronic problems remain; that relatively inexpensive efforts can be undertaken to solve many persistent financial problems; and that the state has dramatically increased reimbursement for education in poor urban settings since 1978-79. The second part of the report details findings and recommendations regarding eight issues (sample subtopics in parentheses): 1) finance (state aid, cost trends); 2) special education services (labels, related services); 3) the interface with regular education (inservice training); 4) state/local relations (monitoring, appeals); 5) secondary education (attitudes, service options); 6) individualized education plans (staff and parent use); 7) least restrictive environment (placement decisions, student acceptance); and 8) parent/school relations (impact on parents, organized parent efforts). (CL)