In December 1989, the School District of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Research for Better Schools, Inc., with the support of the Pennsylvania State Department of Education, initiated a collaborative 2-year study of the district's Chapter 1 schoolwide projects. This report presents findings from the study of Spring Garden Elementary School (grades K through 5), one of the schoolwide projects initiated in 1988. Section I describes what it means to be involved in a schoolwide project, on the basis of interviews with principal and staff and observations. Section II presents an overview of current instructional practice on the basis of visits to eight classrooms and interviews with eight teachers over a 2-day observation period. Section III explores the instruction received by three Spring Garden students over a given school day. Section IV describes the reflections of evaluators about the process, comments on staff's and parents' energy and interest in improvement, and highlights some challenges for the future. Eleven tables present study data, and an appendix contains the daily schedules of the three students. (SLD)