Six Schools to Pioneer Core Studies

Six San Diego city schools--Crawford, Morse, La Jolla and Patrick Henry high schools and Montgomery and Muirlands middle schools--were selected Tuesday by the Board of Education as pilot schools for the district’s new common core curriculum.

The curriculum, approved in February, will fundamentally revamp secondary-school instruction over several years. If successful, it will give almost every student in the nation’s eighth-largest district a strong college-preparatory core of study in mathematics, English, science and social studies.

The six pilot schools volunteered to tackle initial issues of how to give teachers new ideas on making more students successful and how to convince the same teachers that more students can work with difficult material if motivated.

The schools will also draw up plans on how remedial math courses can be phased out and on how content in the four major subject areas can be made equal in all classrooms.

Beginning next fall, the pilot schools will begin specific teacher-training programs in math and science, and provide tutorial programs for students unprepared for algebra or for extensive writing and discussions about world literature.

The six schools were chosen as representative in geography, ethnic diversity and achievement.