Course in African, African-American History Debuts in Philadelphia

Graduation Requirement for Class of 2009 Seen as Addressing Gap in Curriculum.

For the students at Philadelphia’s Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School, much of what they’ve learned about African-American history has been centered on the South and embedded in American history and other courses.

But beginning this year, students at the selective magnet school—which serves students in grades 5 through 12—will have an entire course on African and African-American history, with some of the content centered on the experience of black people in Philadelphia.

While the class was optional for students at Masterman this year, students throughout the 205,000-student district will be required to take such a course in order to graduate, beginning with the class of 2009. The course is part of the district’s larger effort to...