This paper addresses three issues--current constraints on the local level that contribute to failures to bring about innovation, conditions that have been isolated as significant to the success of the change process, and ways in which Title IV-C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act could encourage the presence of these favorable conditions. Elements identified as the main components of an effective strategy for implementing change are adaptive, flexible planning; staff training keyed to the local setting; local materials development; and the establishment of a critical mass of project participants. The administration's proposal for the reauthorized Title IV-C includes the following provisions: (1) a general grant-making authority that would allow local education agencies to meet emerging needs and priorities; (2) a grant-making authority for professional development programs and improved administrative approaches at the school system or the school building level; (3) a new provision to address in a comprehensive fashion the needs of all students in a school; and (4) provisions for one-year planning grants and five-year operational grants and the requirement that there be some local funding after the third year of the project. (Author/IRT)