The Good Struggle: Louisiana’s #1 School District Proves Successful Curriculum Change Management Starts—and Sticks—With Teachers! 🏆
The Good Struggle: Louisiana’s #1 School District Proves Successful Curriculum Change Management Starts—and Sticks—With Teachers! 🏆
Quick Take: Transformational change in science education is hard (especially when it asks veteran teachers to rethink decades of classroom practice). But in Ascension Parish, Louisiana’s #1 school district, middle school educators like Dollie Green and Michelle Letourneau leaned into the “good struggle” (as Dollie calls it) of NGSS-aligned teaching, backed by Activate Learning’s hybrid IQWST + OpenSciEd curriculum and an adaptive implementation model. The payoff? Classrooms where teachers drive phenomenal instructional change and students drive inquiry-based learning.
How do you transform science instruction across an entire school district while supporting teachers through significant pedagogical change and reaching every student?
Ascension Parish Schools faced this challenge in 2020.
As we reported in our first Ascension case study, Louisiana had adopted rigorous NGSS-based standards but lacked a cohesive curriculum to meet them. Classrooms still relied on rote-memorization and textbook drills that left students detached from real-world science. And pandemic remote-learning disruptions only widened engagement gaps.
Then came the pivot: a partnership with Activate Learning to launch a hybrid IQWST + OpenSciEd curriculum paired with a change management strategy that put teachers at the center of curriculum implementation.
Activate Learning’s implementation solution delivered:
- A custom hybrid IQWST/OpenSciEd curriculum aligned to Louisiana’s state standards
- Ongoing personalized professional learning that empowered teachers to lead and guided them from theory to classroom practice
- Science kits and materials to support hands-on, investigation-centered learning
- An interactive digital platform for educators and students.
Five years later, Ascension’s 7th grade science mastery rates have climbed from 44% to 52% (an impressive eight-percentage point gain that has contributed to the district's recognition as the top-performing school system in Louisiana). The results show this collaboration didn't just change pedagogy, it created a district culture where teachers own continuous improvement and students own their learning.
In this new success story, we revisit Ascension Parish and speak with two seventh-grade teachers, Dollie Green of Galvez Middle School and Michelle Letourneau of St. Amant Middle School, about how Ascension’s partnership with Activate Learning helped them lead positive change in their classrooms. We also hear from Erin Babin, Ed.D., curriculum specialist, on how these classroom successes translated into districtwide success and growth.
Here's how Ascension Parish and Activate Learning addressed three common curriculum implementation challenges:
Challenge #1: Sustaining Implementation Beyond Initial Training
Districts often struggle to maintain momentum after the initial rollout of a new curriculum. Teachers receive basic training or one workshop session but are left to "figure it out" alone in their classrooms.
Erin Babin explains how Activate Learning takes a different approach:
"Our partnership with Activate Learning has been crucial. When we first started, we needed professional development. We didn't know what we didn't know... We became more confident as we evolved, and their support has evolved with us. It wasn't a previously designed PD that we had to choose from. We were allowed to take the reins and design it the way we wanted, and they came in and provided exactly what we needed."
Because Activate Learning’s support adapted at every implementation stage, from basics to advanced instructional leadership, momentum never stalled.
Challenge #2: Supporting Veteran Teachers Through Pedagogical Shifts
Moving from textbook drills to investigation-centered science is a seismic shift for seasoned educators,. Dollie Green, a 30-year veteran, recalls:
"When I first started teaching, the way you taught science was to define the words and answer the questions in the back of the textbook. It's been a huge jump to learn how to get the kids to become participants in their learning journey... Making science active every day and taking time to allow kids to think about what they were doing and not just memorize the facts."
With sustained coaching, Dollie mastered practices like student modeling and evidence-based reasoning, proving that long-time teachers can thrive in a three-dimensional classroom with the proper support and scaffolds.
Challenge #3: Making a New Curriculum Authentic and Engaging
Teachers often struggle to balance fidelity to new curricula with making lessons authentic and engaging for their unique student populations. Michelle Letourneau describes how Activate Learning's approach bridged this gap in her classroom:
"It's a difficult transition to go from what we've been doing for years to something new. But having that professional development made all the difference. Our Activate Learning facilitator walked us through what to expect, how to plan, implement, and understand what students and teachers should be doing each step of the way. One of the best pieces of advice I received from an Activate Learning facilitator during one of our professional learning sessions is to make this your own. Be authentic!"
This in-classroom coaching helped Michelle personalize instruction while maintaining standards alignment, creating learning experiences where both she and her students were genuinely engaged.
Ascension's success shows that partnerships that empower teacher leadership turn adoption into sustainable excellence. This teacher-centered implementation didn’t just raise scores; it redefined what science could be for every child.
Ready to make teachers the engine of your next big leap?
Read the full Ascension Parish success story to get the blueprint for teacher-powered change-management that will bring similar success to your district.🚀
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