This paper describes research based on the Effective Schools Project, a collaborative project between the University of Washington and the Seattle School District. The research was undertaken to determine the amount of change that took place in two rural high schools over two years and to analyze the factors that contributed to those changes based on the responses of the staff in each school to a Staff Assessment Questionnaire; interviews with the staff, building administrators, and central office administrators; and archival information. Results of the questionnaire are discussed in a case study format for each school, interspersed with a series of tables showing selected items from the Effective Schools Characteristics. The ensuing discussion of these findings in both schools focuses on the following factors: the need for specificity in determining what is needed to implement an innovation; the need for appropriate strategies, such as inservice training, resource support, feedback mechanisms, and participation, to implement the innovation; and organizational climate, or staff perceptions of the motivating purposes behind organizational processes. The findings suggest that implementing changes in secondary schools is often the result of both planned and unplanned activities. References are included, and the the staff assessment questionnaire is appended, along with reliability estimates, a breakdown of the results, and assorted archival materials from the schools. (TE)