Plan Would Toughen Regular Classes in Schools

A sweeping proposal to make regular courses in the San Diego city schools far more rigorous was introduced Tuesday by Board of Education members Dorothy Smith and Jim Roache.

Their plan would revamp the regular curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade--but primarily at the secondary level--so that students successfully completing course work would meet the new, toughened eligibility requirements of the state’s university and state college systems as well as prepare them better for work after graduation.

The plan fleshes out thoughts first voiced by Smith and Roache at an early April meeting where district reports showed poor motivation and poor performance among many students in regular courses. A large majority of the district’s 116,000 students take regular-level courses.

Supt. Tom Payzant hesitated to comment on the plan Tuesday, when he saw it for the first time. It will be discussed at the board meeting May 19.

But Payzant did say Tuesday that “philosophically, I think (the plan) is headed in the right direction.”

While cautioning that he would need to examine possible costs and implementation problems, Payzant said: “I’d like to see more substance in regular courses that serve the bulk of the students in this district.” He noted that the idea fits in with the district’s “equity in placement” program, which is defined as giving all students stimulating course work and the same opportunities to tackle any course for which they appear qualified.

In an earlier interview on the subject, Smith told The Times that material now only in advanced courses needs to be “reclaimed” and put into regular courses, whose content she said is seen today as meaning little or nothing by most people.

“The basic problem is that the district has separated from many students the core of knowledge that we know is necessary to go to college, to be successful in a job,” Smith said. “And many obstacles have been placed in the way of a student wanting to get that information: test scores, teacher recommendations, counselor recommendations. That is wrong.”

Under the plan introduced Tuesday, students could take any course for which they had successfully completed a prerequisite. Remedial courses would no longer count toward graduation, but would be geared as special, short-term classes intended to support students in succeeding in the more rigorous regular courses. Advanced or gifted courses would be upgraded to contain material substantially beyond that needed to meet postgraduate requirements.

Smith has cited equity placement programs at Bell Junior High and Mann Middle School, where many students formerly in remedial or regular courses have successfully taken on subject matter formerly reserved for students in advanced courses as a result of encouragement and special curriculum support from teachers.

Roache said Tuesday that he does not want students graduating with a “diploma of questionable value” for their future.

“Today a kids can graduate without having to have successfully completed an algebra course,” Roache said.