Tulsa leaders’ participation in Learning Forward Academy improves mentoring program

Tulsa Leaders Uncover Deeper Impact of Teacher Mentoring Through Intensive Learning Academy

In the bustling landscape of education, a quiet revolution is unfolding within Tulsa Public Schools, driven by a commitment to nurturing its newest educators. A significant, multi-year learning initiative is proving instrumental in refining the district's approach to teacher mentoring, yielding tangible benefits for both educators and students.

A Strategic Investment in Educator Growth

For nearly every day, Melissa Ihde, Director of Teacher Development and Pathways, collaborates with Katy Green, Executive Director of Educator Effectiveness and Professional Learning. Their work together often centers on supporting novice and aspiring teachers within the district. Beyond their daily responsibilities, both Ihde and Green are deeply engaged in the Learning Forward Academy, a comprehensive program designed for profound educator enrichment.

Participating in the Academy as a unified team has directly bolstered a key strategic priority for Tulsa Public Schools: enhancing high-quality mentoring. This focus aims to improve novice teacher retention, foster professional growth, and ultimately, elevate student outcomes. The Academy, which launches a new cohort each June, places participants in learning teams alongside expert coaches.

These teams are tasked with translating their learning into actionable improvements within their respective schools and organizations. Each participant is encouraged to identify and address a specific "problem of practice" – a real-world challenge they are actively working to solve.

Literacy and Assessment: A Focused Inquiry

Ihde and Green joined the Academy in 2023, bringing with them a specific focus aligned with their district's emphasis on the science of reading. Their problem of practice centered on literacy and fostering a robust culture of assessment.

"We've been intensely focused on literacy and the culture of assessment," Ihde explained. "Our core question has been: if we build the capacity and skills of our mentors in these areas, will that translate into improved outcomes for the teachers they support?"

Green highlighted how the Academy provides dedicated time and evidence-based tools essential for dissecting complex educational challenges. It offers a structured approach to developing effective strategies for sustainable improvements in K-12 settings through high-quality professional learning.

"What's truly remarkable about this experience," Green shared, "is the protected time, the structured framework, and the opportunity to have someone guide us in asking the right questions. The support system throughout has been invaluable."

The collaborative nature of the Academy allows for a complete journey from inception to completion. "What Melissa and I set out to understand at the beginning," Green noted, "is precisely what we've gained a deeper understanding of by 2026."

Mentoring Matters: The Tulsa Public Schools Imperative

As Oklahoma's largest school district, Tulsa Public Schools places significant emphasis on supporting its novice teachers. This support is primarily channeled through an Instructional Mentoring program and the Tulsa Teacher Corps, an in-house certification pathway designed for individuals aspiring to teach without prior certification.

These programs address a widespread challenge: a substantial number of students in Tulsa are taught by novice educators in at least one subject area. Many of these novice teachers enter the profession through alternative or emergency certification routes, often arriving with less than ideal preparation for the demands of the classroom.

For the 2024-2025 school year, program objectives included:

• Building the capacity of both mentors and novice teachers in effective literacy instruction.
• Increasing the use of formative assessment and student data to inform instructional planning.
• Ensuring coaching conversations are centered on observable student demonstrations of learning.
• Improving reading proficiency among students in classrooms supported by mentors.

Ihde noted that the continuous improvement strategies underpinning the Tulsa Teacher Corps and Instructional Mentoring programs made the Academy's model of thinking feel familiar. "Being part of the Academy, which is rooted in the same principles but offers extensive frameworks to deepen understanding, has allowed us to become more consciously competent," she stated.

Examining the Data: Impact on Students and Retention

Within the Academy, Green and Ihde were able to conduct a more in-depth analysis of 2025 data from their Instructional Mentoring and Tulsa Teacher Corps programs. This data revealed improvements in teacher retention and offered insights into student-level impact.

"We wanted to leverage the Academy to better understand the extent to which mentoring influences student outcomes," Green explained. "While the data didn't show a drastic difference across the board, there were some promising bright spots."

She elaborated on the findings: "Looking at MAP data at various points over the past couple of years, we observed that in some instances, students of teachers participating in our Tulsa Teacher Corps – those receiving the most intensive wraparound support – were beginning to close the achievement gap. Their students were growing at a rate that, if the trend continued, was projected to meet, and in some cases exceed, the performance of their peers."

However, the impact on teacher retention was even more compelling. "In some years, we saw a retention rate nearly 20% higher for teachers receiving our support compared to those who did not," Green reported. "In a district of our size, this translated to approximately 50 more teachers retained in a single year, assuming they would have otherwise left the district."

This data underscored a key motivation for their participation: "We were most interested in learning the true impact of this work, not just what is immediately visible, but also what we can theorize about the long-term benefits of retaining a teacher longer, allowing them to build their skills."

Teamwork Accelerates Improvement

Shannon Bogle, Senior Director of Networks and Academy at Learning Forward, emphasized the profound value of collaborative learning. "Having gone through the Academy myself, and then witnessing individuals like Katy and Melissa participate as a team, I can personally attest to the significant advantage of having another person learning alongside you and bringing that shared experience back to your district to engage other stakeholders."

Within the Academy structure, each educator is assigned to a learning team. These teams are deliberately assembled to ensure a diverse range of experiences, district sizes, roles, and perspectives. The primary purpose of these teams is to provide participants with a consistent group of peers for collaboration throughout the program.

These learning teams often evolve into powerful professional networks, with many members maintaining collegial relationships long after the Academy concludes. This fosters connections among educators from across the nation.

When district teams attend the Academy together, they are intentionally placed on different learning teams. This strategic placement broadens their perspectives and ensures they bring a wider array of insights back to their shared work upon returning to their district.

The Academy's design cultivates multiple avenues for collaboration: across the entire cohort, within individual learning teams, and among district teams. In Ihde and Green's case, their placement on separate teams allowed them to gather feedback and ideas from a more extensive network of colleagues, enriching the perspectives they brought to their project.

The Power of Applying as a Team

For educators considering applying to the Learning Forward Academy, which typically begins in July, Bogle strongly recommends exploring the option of joining as a team.

"The impact is magnified when colleagues learn together," Bogle advised. "When teammates from the same district participate side-by-side, they can reflect on new ideas, apply tools to their shared responsibilities, and provide mutual support as they implement their learning back within their systems. Simultaneously, each participant connects with educators from across the country, gaining fresh viewpoints and innovative ideas. The result is enhanced collaboration, clearer alignment, and a significantly greater likelihood that the learning translates into meaningful changes in professional practice and, ultimately, student learning."

The journey of Ihde and Green exemplifies how dedicated professional learning, particularly when undertaken collaboratively, can illuminate pathways to more effective teaching and improved student success within a large urban district like Tulsa.