Community demands for more control of the schools and a teacher over-supply had great impact on the planners of the Urban/Rural School Development Program. Into its 5th year of operation, the program offers the only national experience for developing national strategies for inservice education. Distinguishing the program from other Federal educational programs are: its built-in parity mechanism that requires shared decision-making between school professionals and the community; its focus on inservice education needs of the school personnel involved with the children's education; the direct involvement of an advocate Leadership Training Institute; and its flexible guidelines within a broad category of need. The program has found that teachers respond favorably to inservice education. High parity sites demonstrate that retention of teacher commitment over time is a function of diverse activities which acknowledge that the needs are complex and call for accountability and support from all segments of the school-community. Parity has proven to be a useful process for dealing with teacher reluctance to express deficiencies and training needs. Four basic mechanisms have evolved in the program for delivering inservice education: the resident professor model; the college or university affiliation with on-site training; the consultant firm affiliation; and the "shop for services" model. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The resident professor model appears to be the most promising. (NQ)