An effective partnership among university students and professors, school district administrators, teachers, elementary school students, and parents from the school community is described. Relationships originally formed through a Title VII Transitional Bilingual Education grant were strengthened through the development of the Sam Houston State University Center for Professional Development. The Center differed from many other partnerships in that college students (preservice teachers) attended classes at the elementary school site. Twenty-four college students majoring in education took three courses in elementary education and were required to work with a cooperating teacher during the methods course semester. Students spent between 3 and 7 hours a week in their assigned classrooms. They observed the classroom teachers and university teachers as they delivered model lessons, and then began to teach classes themselves. Preservice teachers, classroom teachers, and college faculty saw themselves as members of the community. In addition, the diverse nature of the student body promoted the development of a multicultural attitude among the preservice teachers. As the field-based experiences developed, the educational community began to reach out to parents, providing Saturday classes in English as a second language and computer skills. Field-based experiences of this type, given the right components, can work in any community. A key factor in the success of this program was that all partners saw themselves as significant components of the learning community. (Contains 1 table and 16 references.) (SLD)