Discusses the rationale and basic features of an educational partnership between Boston University (Massachusetts) and the Chelsea Public Schools (Massachusetts) designed to rebuild Chelsea's school quality. It reviews the reasons for the educational quality decline in today's urban public school system and highlights the underlying principles and…

Examines the public school partnership between Boston University and Chelsea (Massachusetts) designed to improve the educational quality of its schools. Partnership goals and implementation plans are described, and the partnership's plans for helping to prepare the children to learn and teachers to teach are addressed. Financial, administrative,…

Examines the current state of the Boston University/Chelsea (Massachusetts) public school collaboration and its accomplishments. It also highlights the ongoing work and day-to-day management taking place in the Chelsea schools and at the university. (GR)

Reports on the results from a comprehensive review of instructional practices in reading and writing elementary classrooms in Chelsea (Massachusetts) followed by a review of the corrective actions taken via the Boston University/Chelsea Public Schools Partnership and their outcomes. Children's classroom performance in reading and writing is…

Assesses implementation and outcomes of a staff development program, the Classroom Centered Teacher Development Mathematics Project (CCTDM), within the Chelsea (Massachusetts) public schools, which is designed to address problems associated with the teaching of school mathematics. Outcome data show that the CCTDM mode for initiating and sustaining…

Describes the development and implementation of a successful K-8 science program in Chelsea (Massachusetts) public elementary and junior high schools with help from Boston University (Massachusetts). Research-based principles guiding the curriculum development and teacher training are highlighted. (GR)

Describes the decline of public schools in Chelsea (Massachusetts) and discusses the educational and fiscal improvements made through an agreement between the Chelsea school system and Boston University (Massachusetts). Among these accomplishments are new collective bargaining services, better professional development, better health-care delivery…

Discusses the influence of the Boston University/Chelsea (Massachusetts) school system partnership on the school principal, on the ways that teachers plan and deliver instruction, and on children's opportunities to learn. Consistency, coordination, and a collaborative vision are seen as necessary to the partnership's continued success. (GR)

Examines the questions and the key elements of the collective and individual responses arising from five teachers who discussed the success of the Boston University/Chelsea (Massachusetts) school system partnership. Changes in their expectations, their positive experiences and disappointments, and their views on what they have learned are each…

Discusses the future direction of the Chelsea (Massachusetts) school system following the Boston University/Chelsea partnership for school and educational improvement. It explores the partnership's achievements and Chelsea's future prospects; the principles, disagreements, tensions, and factions that existed during and as a result of the…

Argues the case for common national standards in K-12 public schools, explains why past national standardization efforts have stumbled, and explores what currently needs to be done as well as the perceived obstacles. The author concludes by explaining why the issue of common national academic standards is related to equality of opportunity. (GR)

Recalls a previous attempt, via the Committee of Ten, to set national academic standards in American high schools 100 years earlier, describes the effort's defeat, and explains how the objections raised then are much like the ones being raised today. The author argues that the need for national academic standards is more urgent now than ever…

Views the 1994 national civics standards document as a challenging frame of vital themes and questions for school curricula in the humanities and social sciences. The author considers why this set of standards may be the most important one for schools and why they may be the most difficult to implement, even by motivated school administrators. (GR)