A study explored how various groups within school systems defined and identified change and institutionalization and how people viewed their own individual roles in district efforts to implement and institutionalize change. Three districts were selected based on similarities in organizational structure, instructional program offerings, student population, and history of attempted change. The superintendent and central administrators in charge of personnel, curriculum, and elementary and secondary instructional programs for each district were interviewed, along with two principals and two teachers from each district. Results suggest four implications: (1) school districts need to utilize the knowledge that personnel already have about their systems; (2) attention should be given to identify structural modifications and create awareness about these modifications; (3) how personnel come to a common perception of change should be investigated further; and (4) the roles of district personnel in change implementation suggest the neccessity to identify the readiness of those people for change. Appended are 61 references. (SI)