It is a paradox that higher education in the United States justly has the reputation of being the strongest in the world, while public and private urban education at K through 12 levels has the opposite reputation. The fact is that there is a radical gap between the endeavors of each. To bridge this gap, Boston College established a permanent, critical mass of Boston Collaborative Fellowships between university personnel and K-12 school personnel that mutually benefits the educational endeavors of both.
The Collaborative Fellows Program provides time, incentives and resources to school and U university personnel to forge collaborative teams and build trusting, working relationships to reinforce each others' common professional interests. Teams of collaborative scholars, learning from each other as they work through mutual problems, improve teaching in both school and U university courses, and ground research projects in school-based experience.
The Boston Collaborative Fellows Program was established in 1999 thanks to a generous and anonymous endowment gift of five million-dollars. The Collaborative Fellows Program manifests the spirit of the Lynch School mission, "Through research we seek to advance knowledge in our respective fields, to inform policy and improve practice."
| Project Title | Principle Investigator (PI) | Description of Project | Schools Involved (if named) | Dates |
| N/A | Dennis Shirley | N/A | N/A | 2005 |
| Oral Language Skills in Monolingual and Bilingual Preschoolers | Mariela Paez & Claudia Rinaldi | Investigate preschoolers' language and early literacy skills over a two-year period | Pine Village Preschool, Early Learning Center | 2005 |
| "The Implementation and Evaluation of a Comprehensive Health Curriculum in a School-Community Collaborative Manner" | Maureen Kenny | Implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive health education curriculum in a school and community collaborative manner | Cluster 5 (Boston Public Schools) | 2005, 2004 |
| "A Mutually Beneficial Partnership: Improving Elementary Science Education through Collaboration" | G. Michael Barnett | Garfield School | 2005, 2004 | |
| "Capitalizing on Cognitive Strengths" | Joan Lucariello | Assess critical thinking skills in low-income children | Gardner School | 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 |
| "Preparing the Best Secondary English Teacher" | Audrey Friedman, Beth Kowaleski-Wallace | Preparation of secondary English Teacher -- collaboration involving BC's A&S and urban public school faculty | BPS (specific schools not mentioned) | 2004, 2003, 2002 |
| "Tools for Tomorrow" | David Blustein, Maureen Kenny | Help students connect the world of work to current academic tasks | Brighton H.S., West Roxbury H.S. | 2004, 2003 |
| Examine Cause of the Achievement Gap | Irwin Blumer, Pat DiNatale | Research of traits and personal relationships of high school teachers that are making a impact on students | Cluster 5 elementary, middle and high schools | 2003 |
| Gardner School / Bilingual Education | Kathy Lee | Needs of bilingual learners and how needs align with guided reading program | Gardner School | 2003 |
| Portuguese Bilingual Program | Maria Estela Brisk | Preparation of teachers to use teaching techniques and adapt to bilingual classroom settings. | Jackson Mann School | 2002, 2001 |
| Bilingual Education Program Development | Maria Estela Brisk | Development of the Portuguese Bilingual Program at the Jackson Mann School and transition into the Sheltered Instruction Program given the changes in the MA legislation. | Jackson Mann School | 2000, 2003 |
| Professional Development related to ELL | Maria Estela Brisk (year 1), Mike Barnett (year 2) | Through inquiry seminars and CCLs teachers have discussed a number of topics related to ELLs | Garfield School | 2003, 2005 |
| "Reading While Listening" | Jean Mooney | Improving elementary (3,4 and 5) ability to read and understand text written at different grade levels | Gardner School & Cluster 5 | 2001, 2000 |
| "University - Community Partnership Evaluation Project" | Jim Fleming | Examination of current partnerships | Allston/Brighton | 2001 |
| "Problems to Possibilities: Supervision in Urban Schools" | Fran Loftus | Examine supervision model that is culturally revelvant and sensitive to teaching and learning in urban schools | Garfield School | 2001 |
| "Boston College/ Brighton High School Mathematics Excellence Program (B2MEP) | Lillie Albert | Collaboration LSOE and CSOM, resulting in a multi-facested and successful approach to enrich the mathematics program at BHS | Brighton H.S. | 2002, 2005 |