In September 1985, the Prince George's County Public School System located in the Washington metropolitan area east of the District of Columbia, began implementation of a Milliken relief program to revamp its equity strategy. Initially, 10 of 117 elementary schools in the system were targeted for relief, but by September 1988, the Milliken program had expanded to a total of 16 elementary schools. Coinciding with the relief strategy was a systemwide conversion to the effective schools model of school improvement. Additionally, the School Development Program, which provides children with increased adult support and institutes a collaborative decision-making framework between parents and school staff, was introduced into participating schools in the district a year or two later. Student performance between 1984 and 1989, as measured by standardized achievement tests, had increased for nearly every school in the Prince George's County system. The third-grade student countywide average has risen from the 58th to the 75th percentile. The combination of the three programs in the Prince George's County School system resulted in a balanced approach to school improvement, one that accounted for both the human and instructional features of education. As of September 1989, the school system was the nation's 16th largest public school system. The racial composition of the student population was 65% Black, 28% White, 4% Asian, and 3% Hispanic. (KM)