Summit Academy Literacy Curriculum Administrator Jessica Hahn

With her expertise in high-impact tutoring and how — if facilitated well — it can vastly improve reading skills among K-12 students, Summit Academy Literacy Curriculum Administrator Jessica Hahn served as a guest panelist for an Ohio Department of Education and Workforce workshop. The discussion, “Developing, Implementing, and Sustaining High-Impact Tutoring Programs,” was part of a June 3-4 statewide program, “Supporting Sustainability of Accelerated Learning.”

“Educational leaders are often tasked with creating environments conducive to student growth without an abundance of resources. My panel focused on the various ways schools can provide students with the newly required high-dosage tutoring. This included partnerships with libraries, with universities, training school staff and using an external vendor,” says Hahn. She notes that several Summit Academy Schools have seen progress in student reading through high-impact tutoring provided by Amplify Tutoring.

Hahn and her fellow panelists addressed an audience of Educational Service Center members, school district leaders and ODEW representatives, including ODEW Literacy Achievement and Reading Success Policy Lead LM Clinton. Other panelists included Leslie Kelly, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, Pickerington Local School District; Miya Reyes, Public Services Director, Columbus Metropolitan Library; Thomas Roberts, Ph.D., co-coordinator, Inclusive PreK-5 Education Program at Bowling Green State University; and Sarah Wilson, ODEW Tutoring Policy Administrator.

Hahn says that through the discussion, she hopes school leaders understand the various pathways available to accelerate learning and to align resources to improve student outcomes.

“I think it is a great honor to Jessica individually and Summit Academy in general for her to have been invited to participate on this panel,” says Curriculum Director Mari Dew. “Jessica has done so much work over the past few years to turn her passion for literacy into real expertise, and Summit Academy is truly blessed to have her leadership in our implementation of the science of reading within our MTSS [Multi-Tiered System of Supports] framework.”