A systemic approach to education reform emerged in the 1990s as one way of addressing policy fragmentation. This volume presents findings of a study that sought to: expand knowledge of state approaches to systemic education reform; examine district, school, and teacher responses to state reform policies in a small number of reforming schools and school districts; identify challenges at the state, district, school, and classroom levels to reforming education; examine the capacity of the educational system to support education reform; and provide guidance to policymakers at all levels of the education system as they design and implement education reform policies. During the first year of study, researchers conducted a review of literature on systemic reform, commissioned four papers, and held a national conference. The second stage involved intensive case studies of 12 reforming schools located in 6 reforming school districts in 3 states undergoing systemic reform--California, Michigan, and Vermont. The case studies targeted mathematics, reading, and writing instruction in grades 4-8. Stage three involved preparing state-level case studies and conducting cross-site analyses. Findings indicate that: (1) coherence among the elements of state education policy seems to facilitate reform in districts and schools; (2) communication about the reform agenda cannot be accomplished from the center only; (3) it takes time for educators to learn new content and approaches and for institutions to change; (4) the goals of reform may need to strike a balance between current and desired practice; (5) deliberate, consistent, and pervasive strategies to ensure equity are necessary; (6) capacity building must take into account organizational and individual needs; (7) consistency, alignment, and coherence may provide opportunities throughout the system, but states and school districts must design and use these systemic tools strategically; (8) capacity-building strategies must accommodate teachers' and administrators' involvement at multiple levels; (9) capacity-building strategies should include diverse populations; and (10) attention should be given to enhancing the capacity of external stakeholders. A total of 25 tables and 2 figures are included. (Contains 99 references.) (LMI)