Larger urban school districts are no longer hospitable to outside researchers wishing to use the schools' staff, students, and resources in research that frequently is either poorly designed or useless to the schools. However, the University of Texas Research and Development Center for Teacher Education has enjoyed a good working relationship with the Austin Independent School District by carrying out high quality research relevant to the Austin schools and by showing understanding and consideration for school personnel. The problems that arise from such collaboration are fundamental organizational ones. For example, while school districts plan on a year-to-year basis, R & D centers must have longer timelines to conduct research. School organization is in a constant state of flux, making prolonged collaboration more difficult. Communication among school staff and researchers is always a problem. These and other problems must be solved for the partnership between school district and research and development center to be successful. This paper is one contribution to the symposium, "A Federal Institute, A University R&D Center, and a School District Join Forces: The Processes and the Problems." (Author/DS)