The Knowledge Matters Campaign shines a light on SMUSD's high-quality science curricula
National Campaign to Visit Schools Transforming Science Instruction with the Help of High-Quality Science Curricula
The Knowledge Matters Campaign is excited to announce upcoming visits to school districts across the country that are implementing high-quality science curricula. Representing the campaign’s first exclusively science-focused school tour, the visits seek to shine a light on the role the disciplines, in this case science, can play in the effort to build students’ background knowledge and enhance their reading comprehension.
“As important as it is to ensure that what our students are reading and writing about in English language arts is content-rich and of high-quality, we must never forget that background knowledge built through rich instruction in science, social studies, and the arts will also contribute mightily to literacy,” said Barbara Davidson, executive director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign.
Nationwide, there is growing demand for science curricula and professional learning aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Districts selected for the 2023 Science Tour are pioneers in the adoption of high-quality science curricula and serve as models of implementation for school systems nationwide. The Campaign celebrates their stories as beacons of improved science instruction.
“Students and teachers in these districts are experiencing the transformational power of high-quality, rigorous science curricula. Not only are students excited by topics that invite them to investigate and learn about the world around them, teachers are equally enthusiastic about advancing their craft as science educators,” Davidson said. “By sharing these districts’ stories, we give inspirational testimony to the growing momentum for high-quality science instruction and the role it plays in literacy.”
The following districts are currently scheduled to be visited, with more to come in the fall. Media is invited on all School Tour visits.
- San Marcos Unified School District, CA: January 24-25, 2023 – OpenSciEd Curriculum
- Lafourche Parish School District, LA: March 14-15, 2023 – Amplify Science
- Graves County Schools, KY: March 21-22, 2023 – OpenSciEd Curriculum
- Farmington Municipal Schools, NM: March 28-29, 2023 – OpenSciEd Curriculum
The Knowledge Matters School Tour – whose motto is to “find the good and praise it” – generates national awareness for states and districts implementing high-quality, knowledge-building curricula. Since 2018, the tour has visited over 30 districts across the country.
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The Knowledge Matters Campaign is a project of StandardsWork, a non-profit advocacy organization that focuses on identifying high-impact levers that produce academic improvements, specifically the vital role curriculum plays in supporting teaching excellence, the importance of building deep background knowledge in students, and the “octane” that specific evidence-based instructional practices can provide. Through media campaigns, publications, blogs, and thought leadership, StandardsWork highlights the benefits of high-quality curriculum adoption and implementation, promotes research on the “curriculum effect,” and elevates educator voices in support of a curriculum renaissance.