Education: Reconciling the Old & New

When he took over the "wreck" of Washington, D.C.'s integrated public schools 2½ years ago, Superintendent Carl F. Hansen confounded pessimists everywhere by raising academic standards higher than they had been under segregation (TIME. Feb. 1). His latest innovation may do even more to revolutionize the capital's educational system. Called Amidon School, it is a determined effort to resolve the longstanding war between "basic" and ''progressive" education by developing a curriculum that combines the best of both.

Begun last month in an urban-renewal area in southwest Washington. Amidon is open to any Washington...