This study examines a semester-long cooperative project between a university and local school district. A six-member Oklahoma State University faculty team worked to develop a training course for teachers at a small, rural school district of predominantly Native-American students. Conflicts and contradictions emerged during the process regarding plans, world views, roles and relationships, educational intervention, questions of change, and the purpose of the course itself. For school faculty members, the program was a means to obtain graduate-level course credit; for administrators, it fulfilled state staff-development requirements; and for others, it meant greater professional status. The university team began with a multicultural, student-based educational approach, and attempted group decision-making. School personnel, predominantly Anglo-American, desired change only on their traditional cultural terms, which were largely different from their Native students. Political rifts emerged. The project achieved no lasting changes in educational content or delivery, although the university team did gain "local" (experiential) knowledge. It is recommended that researchers have a good understanding of the school environment before initiating similar partnership projects. Positive educational reform also depends on better understanding of the interplay between local and research knowledge. (TES)