This article offers an account of how educational organizations have changed in response to expanding state and federal policy, presents some explanations for the changes, and discusses the chief problems that resulted. It also sketches an approach to thinking about the effects of policy on educational organizations. (CT)

This essay discusses the federal role in the improvement of educational practice nationally and at the local level, the role and influence of federal or other national program evaluations on local curriculum decisions, and the differences in role perceptions between federal and local school district officials. (CT)