A project was undertaken by a consortium to produce a publication that would provide (1) a mechanism and guidelines for establishing cooperative relationships between secondary and postsecondary schools and business, industry, and labor in the rural community; (2) a large number of examples of cooperative agreements; and (3) appendixes which will give background information on implementing cooperative relationships in rural areas. To compile a comprehensive list of existing cooperative agreements between these groups, a survey questionnaire was sent to 3,375 individuals, a literature review was conducted, and various state and national career education agencies and departments were contacted. Over 200 agreements are included in the final publication, which is entitled "Increasing Guidance Effectiveness through School-Community Cooperation." Pre-publication outlines and drafts were reviewed and evaluated by the National Advisory Panel and the National Advisory Committee for the Cooperative Rural Career Guidance Project. The project found that rural programs suffer from lack of financial and physical resources, declining job opportunities, lack of qualified guidance staff, and sparsity of varied industries. Besides offering suggestions for planning similar future consortium projects, the project staff made recommendations for new research, development efforts, and technical assistance. (Also included are a bibliography, a glossary of terms, and appendixes containing a list of consortium staff; copies of survey instruments and a table of responses; samples of dissemination materials; and project progress control instruments.) (ELG)