During the 1995-96 academic year, the Hartford (Connecticut) Public School System (Connecticut) published "Academic Area Outcomes, PreKindergarten-Grade 12," a document that initiated a process of improvement of teaching, learning, and curriculum revision based on continuous assessment and accountability. Creation of this document was not a simple matter in light of the educational, social, political, and economic situation in Hartford. The Hartford school district, with an enrollment of 23,500 students in 32 schools, is the largest district in Connecticut and the second largest in New England. Enrollment is 98% minority, predominantly Hispanic and African American. The district enrolls 4% of the state's students, and 49.6% are bilingual. Hartford is the fourth poorest city in the nation, and approximately 75% of the students are considered at risk of not graduating. The curriculum revision initiated in this context used input from educators and the community, as well as educational research to define what students should be able to do in each of the academic areas. Working groups consulted available national standards to come up with samples of assessments and outcomes to tell what students should learn and how they should demonstrate their learning. Hartford's experience demonstrates how the collaborative outcomes writing process leads to accountability, improvement, and ownership for implementation of reform. (Contains 12 references.) (SLD)