Parent involvement programs for rural communities work best when they respond to particular features of the communities they serve. Research provides conflicting findings about whether rural parents are more or less involved in their children's education than are urban or suburban parents. Even if parent involvement is more prevalent in rural schools, rural educators still face challenges often associated with rural life: geographic isolation, poverty, lack of job opportunities, and lower parental educational attainment. On the other hand, rural residents often place high value on their schools and view schools as a central focus of community life. Successful rural parent involvement programs combine a number of recommended features that allow parents to feel effective in various adult roles, encourage adults to share their talents and model successful strategies of life management, and demonstrate to students the connections between their studies and their eventual success in the workplace. A number of ongoing efforts demonstrate ways that parent-school partnerships can work to improve education in rural areas. Promising approaches include Even Start, piloted in rural Montana; the Total Village Project, a community-wide effort to educate children in rural West Virginia; and the Teacher-Parent Partnership for the Enhancement of School Success, a collaborative effort between the University of South Carolina and 18 rural school districts. (SV)