This paper examines current professional literature and assesses: (1) the degree to which community colleges have (or are developing) administrative programs that actively foster instructional innovation; and (2) how education programs in general, and innovative programs in particular are evaluated in terms of relative effectiveness and costs compared to conventional instruction. A case study of Coast Community College District (California) is presented: five broad administrative programs are discussed; cost comparisons are examined for different instructional programs; and three techniques of comparing instructional effectiveness, (normative, summative, and informal evaluation) are presented. The paper concludes that instructional innovation can be performed only by faculty members, but administrators are needed to provide an organizational environment receptive to and actively promoting innovation. A great need is seen for cost accounting systems to serve educational institutions. The summative method of evaluation is the most informative but also the most difficult to perform. A portion of this paper, Comparisons of Instructional Effectiveness, has also been processed as a separate document, (ED 050 712). (Author/CA)