Early state and local progress toward implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) was reviewed. Data were collected through visits to selected sites in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Vermont and a 90-item Workforce System Information and Evaluation (WSIE) data collection form. The following aspects of WIA implementation were examined: plan development and submittal; governance and administration; service design and delivery; program administration and support; linkages between school-to-work and WIA planning; and overall progress toward implementation. In most states, WIA's major precepts had already been incorporated into state legislation or local practice before passage of the WIA. The following key challenges in WIA implementation were identified: (1) expanding and enriching the menu of available core and intensive services; (2) clarifying relationships among one-stop service delivery partners; (3) improving federal/state guidance and state/local response; (4) improving employer services and increasing the level of employer involvement; (5) developing comprehensive youth services; and (6) developing and improving a shared workforce development management information system. (Appended are the WSIE data collection instrument, information about constructing a WSIE composite index of readiness, the Department of Labor's "Planning Guidance and Instructions for Submission of the Strategic Five-Year Plan," and highlights from the evaluation.) (MN)