The school/community improvement process adapted by the Rural, Small Schools Program at the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) serves to revitalize and improve rural schools, incorporating commitment of both school and community leaders to rural school improvement. This paper describes implementation of the process in four school districts, one each in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. State advisory groups selected districts to participate on the basis of size, poverty, rurality, evidence of community leadership, and evidence of school leadership. In each demonstration site, AEL, working with the local school board, set up a school/community steering committee comprised of equal numbers of official and unofficial leaders from the school district and the community. Initial local data collection included a community needs assessment and a profile of school excellence, a diagnostic system which uses survey and interview data to assess schools' strengths in 11 areas associated with effective schools. All four communities selected a school improvement project, two involving parental involvement, one involving facilities feasibility, and one involving school climate. AEL staff will develop training materials and implementation manuals for use in replication of the process in other communities. (DHP)