Cambridge Opts for Ed School Plan

The Cambridge School Committee voted 6 to 1 last night to affiliate with the School of Education's new center for educational research and development.

Cambridge thus joins four other Massachusetts communities--Boston, Concord, Lexington and Newton--cooperating with the Ed School.

The sole dissenting vote yesterday came from School Committee George F. Olsen, Jr. Olsen had submitted an amendment barring participation in the center, unless the Ed School promised that Cambridge would not have to contribute financial support.

Spokesmen at the Ed School have indicated that the center will be paid for exclusively with grants from the federal government and private foundations. The amendment was defeated.

The center, which was announced last week by Theodore R. Sizer, Dean of the School of Education, will carry on a long-term cooperative program with the participating school systems, studying social and cultural differences as they affect learning. Hopefully new teaching methods, curriculum materials, and training programs will be developed and will be made part of actual classroom practice as quickly as possible.

Associated with the center are the Massachusetts Department of Education, the New England School Development Council, which has 170 member school systems throughout the six-state area, and the National Association of Independent Schools. Also, WGBII-TV, the Boston educational television station, the Harvard-M.I.T. Joint Center for Urban Studies, and other groups.

The U.S. Office of Education will help finance the program through five yearly grants, totaling $2.4 million. Harvard and other organizations affiliated with the center are expected to contribute about $1.1 million during the five-year period.

The center will incorporate the School and University Program for Research and Development (SUPRAD), through which Harvard has been working with the school systems of Concord, Lexington and Newton for seven years.