MDC, Inc.'s Alliance for Achievement was a 4-year school change demonstration aimed at encouraging more students to continue their education beyond high school by linking middle schools, high schools, and community colleges into a unified continuum. Implemented in six southern communities, it focused on increasing minority and low-income student enrollment in high-level high school courses; ensuring that secondary students develop a clear understanding of the connections between school, college, and career; and forging collaborative ties among schools, community colleges, and local businesses to promote the first two objectives. This report describes nine premises that MDC considers fundamental to successful capacity building: develop teams to work with all levels of the system; develop strong team skills; provide an empowering paradigm; focus on critical values and their implication for action; link diagnosis, planning, and implementation; equip people with survival skills; build in tangible incentives for change; dignify the learning process; and offer technical support during implementation. The paper also examines MDC's Moving from Vision to Action planning process and the Alliance for Achievement Data Collection Guide used by demonstration sites. The Moving from Vision to Action Planning Guide and the Data Collection Guide are appended. (SM)