The Roosevelt School District, with the lowest wealth per pupil of the 56 districts located in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, worked with the Urban Education Department of the University of Massachusetts' Division of Instructional Leadership to design and implement a degree-granting staff development program centered around identifying and solving district problems. The program was designed to help the staff members achieve personal and professional goals while improving school effectiveness. The program also had an action research component and enabled the university faculty to test and demonstrate a productive, school-based program for preparing leadership in urban schools. This document briefly outlines the philosophy and goals of the program; discusses how it was financed, who was admitted, how courses were designed, how linkage between the district and the university was coordinated, and what activities were pursued; and describes some of the indicators of program success. (PGD)