The sociolinguistic assessment model employed in this study demonstrated a useful approach for examining the interrelationships between community and school goals regarding bilingual education. As results indicated, not only do educators and parents differ in their sociolinguistic characteristics, but also in their selection of a bilingual education program model. The assumption that teaching/administrative staff in bilingual programs are themselves reflective of bilingual goals and orientations in their behavior was seriously questioned by this study. The model focused on a comparison of 35 parents and 37 educators regarding certain variables: their demographic background (ethnicity, native language, and place of birth), self-reported proficiency in Spanish and English (understanding, speaking, reading and writing capabilities in each language), and actual vs preferred language usage by societal domain (media, home, social services, and school). The research site was a rural bilingual community in north central Colorado. Data was obtained from questionnaire responses to 53 items showing language preference patterns in selected social situations. Despite a high level of loyalty to Spanish, the community's adult population reported a greater usage of English than Spanish. Parents (83%) reported preferences for a maintenance type of bilingual program while educators (57%) preferred a partial-transitional approach to bilingual education. (NEC)