The Coalition of Essential Schools is involved in a 3-year study to translate collaborative inquiry into a research process to simultaneously build schools' capacities for change. A current collaborative project is described, with a dialog between a principal, a teacher, and a researcher who are engaged in a process of school improvement. Members of the Coalition of Essential Schools have agreed to translate nine Common Principles, a set of common sense ideas for improvement, into their own contexts. The case study at one site attempting to implement the change process illustrates the difficulties and benefits of collaboration between researchers and practitioners. The report of a site visit by the researcher stirred conflicting and complex emotions on the part of teachers and the principal. Teacher, researcher, and principal reactions are reported, with the eventual outcome in terms of increased openness among the parties to the school study and educational change. Appendix A lists the nine Common Principles of the coalition. Contains 38 references. (SLD)