A report on two CREDE projects, the study of the implementation of six reform efforts in "Sunland County," and the study of the implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) untracking program in Kentucky. Five important considerations mark the reform implementation process: reform efforts in schools do not succeed on simple technical considerations alone, the agency of educators is part of a complex dynamic, the implementation process is viewed differently from different perspectives, the culture of the school mediates educators' actions and structural constraints, and school-site educators do not respond to design team or government actions passively and automatically.