A model for enhancing the local capacity of urban schools for solving problems by restructuring school settings is the subject of this paper. In identifying the strength and weaknesses of such a concept, the paper reviews data from nine sites studied by the Documentation and Technical Assistance (DTA) project for their applicability to other settings. A decentralized political milieu, similar to that which obtained in the 1960s, is theorized to be conducive to innovative ideas that draw on local resources. Other areas discussed include: problems with observing "capacity" for problem solving; the concepts of "problem" and "problem solving" themselves; various options for determining what is "local"; and the importance of nonlocal factors in shaping school processes. Appended are methodological descriptions of the population studied by the DTA, the nature of the DTA contract and of the organizations receiving the contract, and the documentation and analysis procedures. (AOS)