Baltimore Sticks With Unconventional Reading Program

Baltimore school officials are standing by their decision to use popular magazines and other nontraditional texts as part of a strategy to engage middle school students, despite criticism from some teachers and community members that the new language arts curriculum lacks rigor and downplays formal grammar lessons.

Even so, Chief Executive Officer Bonnie S. Copeland has ordered an audit of the curriculum, Studio Course, that she and her colleagues believe will help turn around students’ reading and writing performance.

She defended the curriculum before the 87,000-student district’s school board last month, saying it helps build fluency and comprehension through “activities in reading and writing that have relevance...