Major Gates Grant to Chicago Sign of Greater Interest in Curriculum

Taking a significant step toward supporting district-level changes, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last week announced a $21 million grant to help the Chicago school system overhaul teaching and learning in high school classrooms.

The effort, which is to start in the fall with 14 schools, is slated to reach about half of Chicago’s high schools when fully phased in by the 2008-09 academic year. It is designed to bring greater standardization and quality to the high school curriculum in participating schools, which will choose from two or three curricular options, depending on the subject.

“This is obviously a huge deal for us,” Arne Duncan, the chief executive officer of the Chicago public...