A SURVEY OF CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS OF ALL 50 STATES REVEALED A HIGH DEGREE OF VARIABILITY FROM STATE TO STATE IN BOTH NUMBER AND TYPE OF COURSES MANDATED BY LEGISLATURES. CURRICULA IN ALL STATES ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY THE CREATIONS OF STATE AND LOCAL BOARDS AND CERTAIN INFLUENTIAL PERSONS. OF 99 REQUIRED SUBJECTS SURVEYED, THOSE REQUIRED MOST FREQUENTLY INCLUDED CLASSES ON ALCOHOL AND NARCOTICS, UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, AND UNITED STATES HISTORY. SUBJECTS RELATING TO GOVERNMENT, LANGUAGE SKILLS, MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, AND MISCELLANEOUS COURSES APPEARED MOST FREQUENTLY. ALTHOUGH LEGISLATURES STIPULATED THE NAMES OF SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT, THEY DID NOT PRESCRIBE COURSE CONTENT, HOW EXAMINATIONS SHOULD RELATE TO COURSES DESIGNATED, OR WHAT WAS MEANT BY THE TERM"TAUGHT." FURTHERMORE, THERE WAS LITTLE UNIFORMITY IN COURSE TITLES FROM STATE TO STATE AND NO METHOD FOR DETERMINING COURSE EQUIVALENCIES BETWEEN STATES. MANY STATES REQUIRE COURSES WHICH HAVE NO EQUIVALENTS IN OTHER STATES. IN MOST STATES, CURRICULA ARE HEAVILY WEIGHTED WITH SUBJECTS CONCERNED WITH THE PRESERVATION OF SOCIETY, BUT HAVING LITTLE TO DO WITH INDIVIDUAL STUDENT WELFARE. MODERN DATA PROCESSING AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS, HOWEVER, CAN BE EMPLOYED BY STATES TO KEEP ABREAST OF NEW CURRICULAR NEEDS AND TO MOVE TOWARD EQUIVALENT CURRICULA AND A NATIONAL NORM. (JN)