But these states aren’t all doing the same thing. Mississippi and Alabama have focused just on phonics, while Tennessee and especially Louisiana have succeeded in getting districts to adopt curricula that also build academic knowledge beginning in the early grades. On its own, effective phonics instruction, while crucial, leads only to short-term gains. Combined with a knowledge-building curriculum in the early grades, it lays the groundwork for success at higher grade levels.
I was delighted to see this post coming in at #3, and I hope it reflects a surge of interest in history—which is often either not taught at all, especially in elementary school, or else is taught in a way that isn’t engaging or effective. Learning about history is crucial for enabling students to become responsible citizens. There’s also evidence that social studies boosts reading comprehension, especially for students from low-income families.
This post described a framework for teaching history called the Four Question Method and featured interviews with teachers piloting a U.S. history curriculum developed by the creators of the method. The teachers reported that compared to their previous approaches, the new curriculum engaged students more and enabled them to retain and understand more content. (I serve on the advisory board of 4QM Teaching.)