This book is concerned with educational change affecting elementary and secondary schools in the United States and Canada. A wide range of innovative programs are discussed as examples of the practical meaning of change, including projects involving various curriculum areas, microcomputers, career education, open-concept schools, desegregation, special education, Head Start and Follow Through programs, and locally initiated change as well as changes sponsored at the provincial, state, or national levels. The book is divided into three main parts. Part I, "Understanding Educational Change," provides an overall framework for thinking about and implementing educational change. The six chapters in Part II focus on how change affects people in schools: teachers, principals, students, district administrators, consultants, and parents and community. The roles of the participants in change stategies are examined, and guidelines are suggested. The focus of the chapters in Part III is on federal, state, and provincial policies and agencies, the training of teachers and administrators, and the problem of change in the context of educational trends and expectations. An appendix supplies a bibliography and brief descriptions of 15 selected innovative programs and research studies in the United States. (FG)