The overall objective of the Excelencia: Expansion of Centers of Excellence in Nicaragua with Emphasis on the APA Method project is to expand nationwide an enhanced educational model that promotes active teaching and community participation, which is strengthened by the application of a reformed curriculum based on competencies and which incorporates the educational needs of indigenous peoples and ethnic communities.  These practices address the issues and recommendations of the USAID program description in that they support the ultimate aims of decentralization, schools as centers of learning, students as architects of their own learning, and empowering teachers. The Excelencia project has three major programmatic interventions that will build capacity at the departmental, municipal, and school levels including: implementing, in 2000 new schools, the BASE active learning model and incorporating transitions into and from primary school and early reading programs from the Centers of Excellence in Teacher Training (CETT) project; developing and validating school materials using the competency-based methodology, so that materials will be ready for use at the national level; and conducting longitudinal studies and other research to assess the impact of the project.