Four papers presented at three panels constitute the session on education and economic change at a conference on education in the South. The first panel's single paper describes the activities of the Commission on the Future of the South concerning children, analyzes the socioeconomic status of children in the South, and relates children's education to economic growth in the region. In the second panel the authors examine the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's activities in educational innovation and review the Laboratory's determination of the South's needs in education and educational research and development. An appendix to the paper explains the designation-appraisal-prescription (DAP) model of problem-solving used by the Laboratory. The two papers in the final panel point out the need to educate children about the world's rate of resource consumption, cite data on the United States' waste of energy, and list ways for school districts to manage and conserve energy in educational facilities. (RW)