Rural America has been experiencing dramatic changes and is becoming an increasingly diverse society. To explore the process by which rural schools define and work towards change, case studies were conducted on two rural schools that have established unusually strong links with their communities. Information was collected by personal interviews with school personnel, students, and community members. The two case study sites, Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and York, Nebraska, developed programs to consistently work with the community. Both communities are struggling, however, facing increased social and economic needs at a time when fiscal resources and the population are decreasing. Belle Fourche uses the entrepreneurial curriculum as a vehicle to link the school to community development efforts; York has broadened a community education effort to coordinate social services for lifelong learning among the community's adults. In relation to the case studies, the document also reviews the decade-old themes that the rural school should be involved in local development. It focuses on (1) the reciprocal benefits for educational and economic development between the school and the community; (2) involvement of rural schools in community social services; and (3) rural schools' active role in lifelong learning for community adult members. A list of resource persons, a case study framework and questions, and a 45-item bibliography are included. (ALL)