Tulsa schools enhance literacy through emergency reading initiative

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) is teaming up with the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) to bring reading levels to a basic and proficient level.

The partnership is called the Emergency Reading Initiative Expansion.

The goal is to provide high-intensity tutoring so that TPS students will be proficient at their required reading levels by the end of the school year.

"The idea that we had was, what about if we take the best teachers in the district and we allow them time to go in and tutor and work with the kids that are still far behind," said State SuperintendentRyan Walters.

Walters says as part of the Emergency Reading Initiative Expansion for TPS, they are going to find 100 TPS teachers who had the most growth in their classroom with reading and pay them to tutor students who are below the reading levels they are expected to be at.

Walters says that while these teachers are out of their classroom tutoring students who are below the pace, retired teachers will be recruited to cover their classrooms.

"We're going to pay retired teachers up to $300 a day from OSDE funds and district funds to recruit some of the best retired teachers back to fill the classrooms," said Walters.

Walters says OSDE will send its employees to help fill those classrooms.

"Tulsa has done a lot of great work, you heard Tulsa talk about 12 of their 16 F schools are on pace to get off the F list. We've seen kids make tremendous jumps," said Walters.

However, Walters says there is still a large group of students who are not meeting expectations that are needed to be on a basic or proficient level in reading.

"They are moving in the right direction, but not at enough speed to hit these marks by the end of the year. So, what we're hoping to do is jumpstart that with this initiative," said Walters.

"For example, our sixth and seventh graders, we know that there's way more work that we have to do between the time that we received that mid-year data to the end of the year," saidDr. Ebony Johnson, the Superintendent for Tulsa Public Schools. "We are going to see progress, I'm confident that we will move our students in the right direction."

Walters says they have already identified the 100 teachers for this initiative, and right now working on finding substitutes to cover their classes.