Based on a local site sample of 146 school districts, this volume (the second in a series of 10) describes school improvement efforts supported by 4 different federal strategies and representative programs: interpersonal linkage of validated practices (National Diffusion Network), commercial distribution (Bureau of Education for the Handicapped Market-Linkage Program), state administration of dissemination (ESEA Title IV-C Adoption Grants), and Local Development and Invention (ESEA Title IV-C Development Grants). Characteristics of the innovative practices, the people involved, and the contexts in which they occur are discussed, along with contributions of school personnel, local and external facilitators, and other sources of assistance. The outcomes from involvement in improvement efforts are reported, ranging from extent of use of the practices, to student, teacher, and school benefits, to institutionalization. Assistance from outside the school district, most often from external facilitators funded by federal programs, was the key to preparing and supplying teachers to use the new practices and encouraging building and district support. (TE)