Since the 1960s, dominance of public school community interactions has shifted from school professionals to citizen groups, volunteers in the schools, community agencies and the business community. Evidence of this trend can be discerned from the ongoing Urban Education Studies project, which has school systems in the Council of The Great City Schools and has made site visits to Atlanta, Dallas, Toledo, Milwaukee, and Oakland. Mandated citizens' councils continue to operate with varying degrees of effectiveness alongside the more traditional Parent Teacher Association (P.T.A.). Cities involved in desegregation plans have been court mandated to form even more citizens' groups. Volunteers have increased, expanding their activities to classroom assistance to a greater degree than in the past. Alliances with community agencies have taken different forms, some city agencies being housed in the same buildings as schools. Science centers and art museums have developed new collaborative arrangements. The most striking developments have been those of the business communities' involvement, particularly in desegregation plans, and placement of high school students in work situations. Site visits have shown that school personnel are realizing that they need the support and decision-making input from a wide audience within both the school and the community, in order to achieve the goals of the school. (Author/KR)