The History Matters Campaign is a project of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. The Knowledge Matters Campaign is excited to announce that on April 16-17, it will bring its School Tour to the Ouachita Parish School System in Louisiana, which is implementing high-quality, knowledge-rich curricula in both social studies and English language arts literacy (ELA).
This School Tour destination marks the Knowledge Matter Campaign’s first-ever visit to a district using high-quality curricula in both ELA and social studies, reflecting the Campaign’s newly expanded #HistoryMatters work. It is the 50th visit of the Knowledge Matters School Tour, which seeks to “find the good and praise” the embrace of exemplary knowledge-building curricula and instruction.
School Tour visits offer teachers and school leaders the opportunity to share with other educators what their learning journey has entailed. This visit will capture the experience of educators using three knowledge-building curricula:
- Louisiana Guidebooks, one of eight curricula recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign as exceptional for its content-richness (a key component in the Science of Reading), which was developed by and for Louisiana teachers;
- Bayou Bridges, a social studies program co-developed by the state of Louisiana and the Core Knowledge Foundation that was rolled out last year; and
- Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), also recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign, and used in Ouachita Parish for grades K-2.
“We are honored to host the Knowledge Matters Campaign and showcase the knowledge-based teaching and learning happening across Ouachita Parish,” said Curtis Pate, Chief Academic Officer of the Ouachita Parish School System. “Our students and teachers are thriving—and we’re excited for them to share their story.”
The Campaign is especially pleased to spotlight Louisiana, which was the only state to surpass pre-pandemic achievement on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), with its highest scores in elementary and middle school to date.
Since 2018, the Knowledge Matters Campaign has visited districts across the country where educators have shifted their instruction to embrace high-quality, knowledge-building curricula based on the Science of Reading. The Campaign is proud to return to Louisiana and commemorate a “knowledge win” on its 50th School Tour visit, said Barbara Davison, Executive Director.
“It’s fitting that we’d bring our 50th school visit to a place that has embraced the knowledge-rich approach in as comprehensive a way as Ouachita Parish has,” Davidson said. “We’re eager to share the stories of educators who have successfully implemented these evidence-based practices in their classrooms.”
The visit is scheduled for April 16–17 at Highland Elementary School in the Ouachita Parish School System. Members of the media are invited to attend a Roundtable discussion on April 17.
About the Knowledge Matters Campaign
The Knowledge Matters Campaign is a project of StandardsWork, a non-profit advocacy organization whose mission is to “find the good and praise it.” The campaign garners national awareness for the importance of building students’ background knowledge of the world through high-quality literacy and social studies instruction, including through its School Tour and Review Tool. For more, see knowledgematterscampaign.org.
About Ouachita Parish School System
Ouachita Parish School System is the largest district in northeast Louisiana and one of the highest-performing districts in the state, with 18,000 students on 37 campuses. In addition to core curriculum, students in Ouachita Parish enjoy courses designed for learning technology, mastering art and music, maintaining physical education, and a multitude of advanced classes for those students who are academically gifted. Administrators, teachers and staff in Ouachita Parish Schools are diligent in providing a quality education and building bridges to the future. For more, see opsb.net.