In the mid-1980s, five Utah public school districts entered into an agreement with Brigham Young University to achieve educational improvement goals. The 1989-90 study described in this report explores issues arising from the desire of more elementary school teachers and principals to participate in the BYU partnership. Necessary participation conditions were uncovered by examining various partnership governance levels and doing domain, taxonomic, and componential analysis. After defining conditions, an expansion model was developed. The design was an observational case study using qualitative research procedures, along with the Developmental Research Sequence and naturalistic inquiry criteria. Participants were selected by purposive sampling of key people from the elementary schools requesting involvement in the partnership, various university administration and faculty members, and participating organizations. Findings showed that six elementary schools were accepted as partner schools, although three others also met project requirements. Three conditions seem necessary for partner schools to continue: (1) a common philosophy concerning the partnership's worth; (2) a more supportive and representative administrative structure; and (3) a formally organized communication cycle. Further conclusions and recommendations are provided. Appendices contain an audit trail, naturalistic inquiry criteria, and examples of expansion models. (31 references) (MLH)