The trend of educational development is toward the State board of education as the administrative head of the educational system. In 37 of the 48 States in the United States there are State boards of education with functions relative to the public schools; in one other, Minnesota, there is a State board with functions relative to the public high schools only. In the other 10 States, namely, Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska. New Hampshire; Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, there are no such boards. Two of these 10, Nebraska and Iowa, have State boards known as boards of education. The Nebraska board has charge of the State normal schools and has no other functions; the Iowa board has charge of the State institutions of higher edification, including normal schools, but has no functions concerning other schools. The State boards in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Vermont have been created by laws enacted within the last four years. During the same period the boards in Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Washington have been reorganized in the interest of greater efficiency as a result of State legislation. The contents of this bulletin include: (1) State boards of education, which contains (a) Composition of boards; and (b) Digest of laws relating to State school administration boards; (2) State superintendence of public instruction, which contains: Digest of laws relating to chief State school officers; and (3) State departments of education staffs. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]