A needs assessment survey was made to analyze the needs and attitudes of parents and educators in regard to the metric system. Questionnaires were sent to educators, K-5, and to parents of 10 randomly selected classrooms in 2 Illinois school districts; one an urban area and the other a farming community. The 549 returned questionnaires were analyzed by inferential and descriptive statistics. Parent needs and attitudes in regard to the metric system were directly related to communities and education. No such relationships were found for educators. The study showed that although parents and educators generally were negative toward the metric system, they recognized the need of children and the American worker to learn the metric system, and felt all the educational resources in the United States must contribute to the education of the entire population to change over to the metric system. (MP)