The experiences and results of the Urban/Rural School Development Program, a federally-sponsored effort to improve education in poor communities, are reviewed in this study. The thrust of the program was to involve community members and school staff from 25 extremely poor neighborhoods in equal decision making focused on the use of staff development to improve the quality of education. Topics discussed in the twelve articles are: (1) the school-community council process, including participant views and operating procedures; (2) improving the process by which school and community members relate together to make educational decisions; (3) the substance of teacher education, and how school-community councils improve the process of inservice education; (4) the effects of the program on student achievement; (5) directions for the future in educational staff development; and (6) the impact of the program on current federal legislation. Each of these focuses on the lessons to be learned from the program. The following evaluative conclusions are also offered: school-community councils can achieve parity in structure and operation in making decisions about inservice education; the work of such councils has a positive effect on morale in the district, improves the variety and quality of inservice education, and, where evidence is available, leads to better student learning; and the communities are trying to carry on, without federal support, and to incorporate the experimental work into their regular school programs. (DS)