The Response to Educational Needs Project (RENP, formerly the Anacostia Community School Project) provides an opportunity to study the adoption, implementation, and institutionalization of plans for improvement of a group of schools in the District of Columbia. The related theory and research on the implementation of change in organizations is reviewed as it applies to the RENP. The three phases of RENP development: adoption, implementation, and institutionalization, are analyzed using the theory described. The greatest emphasis is placed on the theory of the institutionalization of change. Suggestions to policy makers about changes in inservice education, community involvement, and the administration of innovation are made. The potentialities and pitfalls of externally initiated change are also discussed. (MC)