The accelerated learning academies planned for Pittsburgh Public Schools are likely to include 2 1/2 hours of daily literacy instruction for early elementary students, "ramp-up" programs for lagging middle-school students and "coaches" to ensure that teachers implement the special curriculum correctly.

All are features of America's Choice School Design, the alternative curriculum developed by the National Center on Education and the Economy that Superintendent Mark Roosevelt wants to bring to the city school district.

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Mr. Roosevelt's proposal to create eight accelerated learning academies is the centerpiece of a district reorganization plan designed to save money and boost student achievement.

He'll offer a look at the new schools at a meeting of the school board Education Committee at 5:30 p.m. today. The Urban League of Pittsburgh will hold a community forum on the academies at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Schenley High School in Oakland.

The academies are shaping up as a combination of packaged wares and Pittsburgh-grown ideas.

City school officials considered at least four curriculums before deciding to pursue America's Choice, which has been used at 650 schools in 16 states since 1998. The board has not yet voted on adopting the reorganization plan or America's Choice program.

Studies of the program's effectiveness, by the University of Pennsylvania's Consortium for Policy Research in Education, showed mixed results.

Research showed the program can give a boost to students and help narrow a racial achievement gap. The program doesn't improve performance in every grade or class, however, and America's Choice students sometimes did worse or no better than peers in regular schools.

Researchers said results could be skewed if a district didn't effectively implement the America's Choice curriculum. Also, they said comparative studies could be skewed if other schools in a district copied the practices at America's Choice schools or undertook their own reform efforts.

Mr. Roosevelt is under pressure to raise achievement in little time. Because of low standardized test scores the past three years, the state could take over the district this year.

"When something isn't working, if you keep doing the same thing, it's going to continue not to work," said Lynn Spampinato, deputy superintendent for instruction, assessment and accountability.

Curriculum wouldn't be the only way the academies differ from other schools.

They'll feature longer hours for students and staff. Regardless of individual performance, students will be bound by the academy's extended schedule, Lisa Fischetti, Mr. Roosevelt's chief of staff, has said.

School officials also hope to infuse the schools with a new culture of success, energy and high expectations.

Principals will work year-round and earn annual bonuses of up to $10,000 for raising student achievement, boosting attendance rates and involving parents and the community in a campaign to raise proficiency. There's a flip side: If principals don't get the job done, they could be shown the door.

"This is going to be a very, very different kind of job," board member and Education Committee Chairman Patrick Dowd said.

Mr. Roosevelt wants to reconstitute seven low-performing schools -- Fort Pitt, King, Murray, Northview and Weil elementary schools and Milliones and Rooney middle schools -- as academies. He wants to put an eighth, for grades K-8, in the Greenway Middle School building.

America's Choice has a standard curriculum with state-to-state variations.

NCEE President Marc Tucker said the curriculum is aligned with state standards to help students crack the proficiency barrier on the kinds of math and reading tests that have been a problem for Pittsburgh students.

In kindergarten through third grade, America's Choice offers a 2 1/2-hour "literacy block" each day -- an hour each for reading and writing and 30 minutes for skills development. Students in fourth and fifth grades have two hours of reading and writing each day.

Mr. Tucker said the America's Choice elementary math program, for grades three through five, teaches students to do more than mimic a teacher's problem-solving strategies. He said students learn the concepts behind the math, so they have a better grasp of problem-solving techniques and can apply them to problems they haven't done in class.

America's Choice offers "Ramp-up to Literacy" and "Ramp-up Mathematics" programs for middle-school students who are two or more years below grade level.

To build rapport with students, America's Choice teachers stay with their classes two years or more. Also unusual for elementary school, teachers in third, fourth and fifth grades will specialize in reading or math.