Tulsa Public Schools board reviews literacy goals; district reports mixed MAP/OSTP results
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Summary
District staff presented spring MAP-derived projections for OSTP English language arts proficiency and interim goal monitoring; the board accepted receipt of goal reports after discussion of assessment culture, chronic absenteeism and intervention pilots.
Tulsa Public Schools presented its spring monitoring report for board goals on literacy and student growth on June 16 and the board voted to accept receipt of interim goals 1.1, 1.2 and 2.1.
Superintendent Doctor Johnson and Chief Learning Officer Erin Armstrong framed the discussion around progress toward multi-year targets set in 2023 and due in 2027. The district presented interim measures derived from MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) data and related projections to the Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP). The goals cited in the report include: increasing projected basic-or-above OSTP ELA rates for economically disadvantaged grades 3–5 from 36% (May 2023) to 51% (May 2027) and for grades 6–8 from 38% to 54% by May 2027, and lifting K–2 economically disadvantaged students to the 44th percentile on MAP by 2027.
District leaders reported modest declines between winter and spring assessments in some cohorts: third-through-fifth-grade economically disadvantaged students showed a drop from 43.8% to 42.2% projected to score basic or above, and K–2 students at/above the national 50th percentile declined slightly from 34.1% to 33.8%. Dr. Johnson said the district is examining "assessment culture" and possible year-end fatigue among teachers and students as a contributing factor to spring declines, and noted MAP is tied to federal/bilingual funding and equates to approximately $14.5 million the district must track for compliance. "We think that it's absolutely what you've shared. That's one of the reasons we call that, as we look at what's called assessment culture," Dr. Johnson said.
The report singled out subgroup trends and improvement strategies. The largest spring decline among subgroups was for Native American students (a drop from 59.8% to 50.4% projected basic-or-above among economically disadvantaged Native American students), although district staff noted Native American, multiracial and white students remain among the higher-performing cohorts. Students with IEPs continued to lag; proficiency for students with IEPs declined slightly from 10.5% to 9.8% while students without IEPs are at 41.6% proficiency.
District leaders outlined intervention and classroom strategies being adjusted for next year: differentiating Amira usage for students above the 60th percentile, piloting certified academic language therapists (CALTs) in eight schools to support students with dyslexia, tailoring Walk-to-Read instruction for tiers 1–3, and scaling data-driven practices for intervention fidelity. Chief Armstrong said the CALT pilot will place specialists in eight schools and that the district expects the role to "provide a significant level of support for our students who demonstrate characteristics of dyslexia." She added that some schools have already been recognized for intervention success: "We had four Read 180 teachers here in Tulsa... they were the only ones in Oklahoma recognized."
Attendance was also discussed as a major factor. The district reported that 29 of 39 sites participating in the "Attend to Win Friends" pilot — about 75 percent of participating schools — recorded decreases in chronic absenteeism for the 2024–25 year, and staff said the program began in the second half of the year and will expand supports to encourage family engagement.
After questions from board members about testing cadence, targeted interventions for multilingual learners and progress for students with IEPs, the board accepted receipt of the reports by unanimous roll call.
The district said future steps include reviewing assessment inventories, refining intervention dosages for tiered learners and increasing real-time coaching and data review to accelerate growth toward the 2027 goals.
