This ethnographic study describes the relationships involved in the Partnership for Family Reading, a collaborative project between Montclair State College and a low-income urban school district to promote parent involvement in children's literacy development. Participant observation and other ethnographic research methods were used to produce descriptive data and subject it to critical analysis. The Partnership began in one elementary school in early 1987 and expanded to seven schools. The following summary findings are reported: (1) during the Initiation Phase, 1987/88, a larger structure under which the project was operating helped support the project and initiate it in three schools, but funding was not sufficient to extend the program to all eligible schools; (2) during the Implementation Phase, 1988/89, external funding allowed the program to expand to all seven schools where collegial relationships were developed among participating teachers as well as among teachers and administrators; and (3) during the Continued Implementation Phase, 1989/90, longevity in the program, teacher factors, and school organization helped the three original schools cope best with district-level restrictions and strengthen their programs, while parent factors proved important in expanding the program in one school and maintaining the faltering program in another school. The program's overall ethos of collaboration and the goal of teacher ownership leading to institutionalization in the schools contributed to unexpected results, diversity of program operation in the seven schools, and some differences as well as emerging similarities in goals identified by the college researcher and the school personnel. A list of 19 references and a chart illustrating selected characteristics of participating schools are appended. (FMW)