The chief factors in State administration of public education are the State board, the State superintendent, and the professional staff of the State departments of education. Several valuable studies have been made of the State board and the State superintendent. It is the purpose of the present study to supplement these with an investigation of the professional staff of State education departments. The term "professional staff" as employed throughout the ensuing discussion refers to those members of a State education department engaged in a type of service requiring professional knowledge, training, and experience for its proper execution. The study is confined to the professional staff of education departments in five States: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, with the exception of Chapter II which makes a survey of the development of State departments of education in the country at large since 1900. A bibliography is included. (Contains 31 tables; individual sections contain footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.].

This document provides the results of a 5-year comparison of characteristics of professional staff between the years of 1982-83 and 1987-88 in the California Public Schools. Professional staff members include all certificated personnel employed full-time or part-time and noncertificated personnel serving at the level of superintendent, deputy, associate, or assistant superintendent. The characteristics of professional staff in this report include racial or ethnic group, sex, highest educational level, type of appointment, age, years of experience in the district, total years of educational service, and salary. Tables 1 through 7 show characteristics of professional staff based on their assignments, along with a statewide summary for professional staff. Tables 8A and B show average salaries and the number of full-time-equivalent professional staff employed in different types of school districts. (SI)