Genuine educational reform depends on developing relationships with the home, community groups, politicians, and the business community (Seeley, 1981). This report is the third of three volumes that are products of a 3.5 year study of education reform, with a focus on the role of parent, family, and community involvement in the middle grades. The study focused on comprehensive districtwide parent and community involvement programs, school restructuring, and school-initiated adult-child learning programs. This volume describes the original research design and provides an overview that highlights five primary areas of interest: key contextual factors that shape parent, family, and community involvement initiatives; the planning and design of initiatives; the current implementation of initiatives, and how the initiatives and roles of the school, staff, families, and communities have changed over time; the systems that support the planning, design, and implementation of these initiatives; and the outcomes that result from program implementation. The report discusses each of the three research focus areas--comprehensive districtwide programs; school restructuring; and adult-child learning programs. The report also provides definitions, explains the conceptual framework, and presents the questions that guided the research in each area. The study used a comprehensive set of criteria and initial telephone screening interviews to select nine sites representing well-developed middle-grade parent-, family-, and community-involvement initiatives in a variety of contexts. Six exhibits are included. The appendix contains site nomination summaries. (Contains 14 references.) (LMI)