Recent calls for collaborative efforts appear to be aimed at universities doing a better job at supporting school-improvement efforts. This paper describes outcomes of a project in which university faculty supported and trained local administrators and teachers at one school in the use of collaborative action research to improve teaching and learning conditions. The project developed in response to a small city high school's need to improve relations among parents, teachers, and 750 students. Two educational administration professors worked with school administrators and staff in an action-research project to collect, analyze, and utilize data for school improvement. Surveys were completed by 378 students, 265 parents, and 43 teachers. Focus-group interviews were also conducted with teachers and students. The five-step action-research process was comprised of problem formulation, data collection, data analysis, information dissemination, and action planning for school improvement. The paper focuses on the last two stages, particularly on problems encountered in developing a school action plan. In the end, the school staff's report ignored perceptual differences among the school groups, using the research to create a favorable impression to a visiting committee. The experience illustrates how local control of the collaborative action-research process and data interpretation can be manipulated by the local school staff. The appendix contains a focus group worksheet. (Contains 24 references.) (LMI)