The Knowledge Matters Campaign is excited to announce that on March 11–12, it will bring its School Tour to Arizona’s Lake Havasu Unified School District #1, which has prioritized history instruction by implementing a high-quality, knowledge-rich social studies curriculum in its elementary and middle schools.
This is the second destination on the Knowledge Matters School Tour to a district using high-quality social studies and English language arts (ELA) curricula side-by-side. And, it is the 51st visit of the Knowledge Matters School Tour, which seeks to “find the good and praise” educators, schools, and communities that have embraced exemplary knowledge-building curricula and instruction.
“History has been on the sidelines in elementary school for far too long—and we have seen the impact on literacy rates and civics knowledge for middle and high school students,” said Barbara Davidson, Executive Director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. “High-quality, knowledge-rich history curriculum and instruction in the early grades is not only possible—it is essential. Districts like Lake Havasu inspire us and help us better understand how we can carve out time for this important work.”
The Campaign will observe instruction and interview students, teachers, and administrators at Nautilus Elementary School, which has earned consistent “A” grades from the Arizona Board of Education since 2022–23. Five years ago, the district implemented the Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG) curriculum in social studies and the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum in ELA.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Knowledge Matters Campaign,” said Christie Olsen, Director of Student Achievement at Lake Havasu Unified. “If we as a school, district, or nation want our children to become thoughtful adults, we need to provide them with something meaningful to think about. History is humanity’s story, and studying history gives even our youngest learners the chance to grapple with big ideas.”
This latest School Tour stop builds on the Campaign’s History Matters work and new History Matters Review Tool, which makes the case that high-quality, content-rich history instruction and materials are essential to students’ intellectual and civic development—on par with reading and math. Research shows that expanding history instruction in elementary school improves reading comprehension more than adding additional time to the already-oversized, and often skills-focused, ELA block.
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 sciences of reading and learning. School Tour visits offer teachers and school leaders the opportunity to share with other educators what their learning journey has entailed.
About the Knowledge Matters Campaign
The Knowledge Matters Campaign garners national awareness for the importance of building students’ background knowledge of the world through high-quality literacy and history instruction, including through its School Tour and Review Tools. The Knowledge Matters Campaign, a project of StandardsWork, supports and amplifies the good work of educators and demonstrates the value of three core principles: curriculum counts, knowledge matters, and proven practices deliver. For more, see knowledgematterscampaign.org.
About Lake Havasu Unified School District #1
Lake Havasu City is a community built on possibility and full of promise. At its heart is a shared commitment: investing in its most valuable resource: youth. Lake Havasu Unified School District #1 (LHUSD#1) serves more than 5,000 students attending eight schools. Educators engage every student with a focus on scholarship, character, and humanity, to ensure all students graduate with the academic knowledge and social skills they need to thrive as responsible citizens and contributing members of society. For more, see lhusd.org.