Students in Israel who wish to enter institutes of higher education are required to hold a matriculation certificate. Matriculation exams are therefore high-stake and stressful. In 1993 the Minister of Education appointed a committee to consider reforming the matriculation policy. This paper describes the political and societal aspects of the policy reform--the complexities of translating policy into everyday practice and of resolving contradictory dynamics. Data were gathered through participant observation of committee meetings: interviews with committee members, the Minister of Education, high-level officials, principals, teachers, parents, and students; and document analysis. The paper focuses on the dependence of systemic reform on the interaction among several antecedent conditions and factors in the policymaking process (time, interactional synchrony, and commitment) and the synergetic effects of different modes of implementation. Although at one point consensus seemed unattainable, the committee engaged in a deliberation process that ended in consensus, reflecting compromise and a practicality ethic. The committee adopted two complementary modes of implementation: (1) the revolutionary mode, in which centralized authority designates a national lottery that decides which three subject areas will not be tested; and (2) the evolutionary mode, in which 22 high schools participate in an ongoing consultation pilot program. (Contains eight references and one figure). (LMI)