Since 2021, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation has partnered with Collaborative Classroom (and formerly FluentSeeds) to build a coaching infrastructure in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) that develops SIPPS® tutors into skilled instructional experts. SIPPS tutors are OUSD employees recruited from the community. Third-party research found that SIPPS small-group tutoring in Oakland drove accelerative reading growth on par with classroom instruction.
Coupling high-quality instructional materials with curriculum-based professional learning equips educators to ensure positive student outcomes.
The Work at a Glance: 2025-2026
Our Approach: Three Interconnected Supports
SIPPS is a systematic and explicit program that ensures mastery of foundational skills. The program’s accelerative design offers striving readers the opportunity to reach grade-level reading fluency. SIPPS supports educators of all experience levels with in-program features that develop their content knowledge and pedagogy.
Coaches conduct individualized, tiered observation and feedback cycles calibrated to each tutor’s fidelity level, school conditions, and student data.
Tutors engage in professional learning throughout the year, from full-day, in-person sessions to monthly, cohort-based PLCs facilitated by the coaches. These sessions give tutors structured time to build their instructional skills, share practice, and analyze data.
Tutors express overwhelmingly positive feedback from professional learning. When asked, “After today’s session how confident do you feel in implementing what you learned?” responses averaged 4.6 out of 5.
Our Impact on Implementation
Tutors in Action
What This Looks Like in Practice
Collaborative Classroom Coaches: SIPPS Program and Curriculum Coaching Experts
Collaborative Classroom employs two full-time SIPPS coaches funded by the grant, whose responsibilities are to provide tiered SIPPS coaching support to the OUSD tutors in designated school sites within the district. In addition to the coaches’ salaries, the grant funds professional learning opportunities and ongoing development managed by Collaborative Classroom.
Tutor Development: From Tutor to Central Office
Bruce began as a SIPPS tutor. With encouragement from his coach, he advocated for—and was hired as an administrative assistant with—the K–2 Literacy Team. He now coaches other tutors and supports Tier 2 and 3 implementation.
Sustainable Systems: Building District Capacity
Internal capacity is fostered through coaching and the development of structures and systems to support ongoing implementation needs such as onboarding, tutor development, increasing retention, and continuous improvement cycles.
Funds also support monitoring the implementation through tracking and data analysis. Collaborative Classroom has partnered with OUSD to track intervention dosage and lead regular data collaboration sessions with district leaders on implementation fidelity and impact.
Fidelity Trends
Tutors started and stayed stronger in 2025-26
2025-26 tutors started September already at 2.8—higher than any month in the first half of 2024-25. By April, they reached 3.4 out of 4.
Within 2025-26: the coaching arc in action:
These structures can be adapted to support SIPPS implementation in a variety of contexts.
- Evidence-based reading program
- Dedicated coaches
- Consistent data use
- A culture of professional learning
SIPPS 5th Edition
A Proven Reading Intervention Solution for Tutoring, Afterschool, and Summer Learning
Related:
How California’s DEEP Schools Use SIPPS Tutoring to Challenge the System and Fill Gaps
The Brilliance of SIPPS Author, the Late Dr. John Shefelbine
Why Are So Many States Recommending SIPPS for Reading Intervention?