The Ralston Public Schools Board of Education voted Oct. 13 to approve a contract with TNTP for $85,959 to deliver in-person professional development and classroom coaching on the science of reading for grades 4–12.

Sarah, an administrator for Ralston Public Schools, told the board the work is funded through a Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant from the Nebraska Department of Education and that the district must report grant data frequently. “I want you in person, and I want you here in front of our teachers doing the work,” she said of TNTP’s role in the plan.

Nut graf: The contract funds a series of TNTP sessions and classroom walkthroughs, administrator and instructional coach training, and coach licensing tied to the district’s literacy goals. The board approved the contract as part of the district’s broader strategy to raise third-grade reading proficiency and to expand teachers’ knowledge of the science of reading across content areas.

Sarah said TNTP will run a sequence of sessions—beginning in March (calendar year adjusted to grant timing) and including multiple follow-up days in the summer and fall—focused on effective reading instruction for secondary students, foundational reading skills for older students, fluency and vocabulary, and knowledge-building, academic discourse and writing. The agreement includes in-person training for administrators and instructional coaches, classroom walkthroughs using an instructional-practice guide (IPG) and follow-up calibration work. Sarah said the coaching and walkthroughs will be used both to meet the grant’s reporting requirements and to inform future professional learning.

The district will also use grant funds to buy IXL licenses for K–12, purchase an ImpactED needs inventory for ELA (and also for math outside the grant), restore a 6–8 instructional coach position, and pay for a ninth-grade preACT administration. Sarah said earlier UNO-sponsored early-literacy coursework for preK–3 teachers will continue separately so that younger-grade work and secondary work are aligned but not duplicated.

Board member Carrie moved the contract approval; Katie seconded. The vote was called by roll and recorded as unanimous: Missus Huff — aye; Missus Willie — aye; Missus Richards — aye; Missus Krauss — aye; Missus Rohde — aye; Missus Comerow — aye. The motion passed.

The district will submit biweekly data to the Nebraska Department of Education under the grant timetable and said it plans to use the classroom-walkthrough IPG to calibrate coaches and to guide coaching cycles. Officials said they preferred in-person TNTP training to online modules so trainers could model instruction and follow with classroom coaching.

Looking ahead, the contract’s training schedule and the grant’s reporting deadlines will shape when sessions occur; officials said some dates run into the next school year to meet grant timelines.

Quotes in this article are attributed only to speakers who spoke on the record during the discussion in the Oct. 13 meeting.