Robby Korth | KGOU
KGOU

Robby Korth

Reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma

Robby Korth grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma and Fayetteville, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a journalism degree. He reports on education for StateImpact Oklahoma.

Robby has reported for several newspapers, most recently covering higher education and other topics for The Roanoke Times in southwest Virginia. While there, he co-created the 2018 podcast Septic, spending a year reporting on the story of a missing five-year-old boy, the discovery of his body in a septic tank a few days after his disappearance, and the subsequent court trial of his mother. Although the story was of particular interest to residents in Virginia, the podcast gained a larger audience, named as a New and Noteworthy podcast by Apple.

On a personal note, Robby loves trivia games and won his elementary school's geography bee in 5th grade. 

Ways to Connect

How The University Of Oklahoma Moved Its Classes Online

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Mar 27, 2020
The University of Oklahoma campus. The Norman campus is empty because students have moved all their in-person classes to the web.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

As the COVID-19 pandemic has halted businesses, public events and K-12 schools, Oklahoma’s higher education institutions have turned to virtual schooling for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester.

Oklahoma Will Not Have Spring Assessment Testing This Year

By • Mar 20, 2020

Whether they’re in a classroom or at home, Oklahoma students won’t take assessment tests this school year.

The state is pursuing a federal waiver to suspend all statewide student assessments in the midst of a statewide school closure due to COVID-19.

Oklahoma Schools And Jails Brace For The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Spread

By & & StateImpact Oklahoma • Mar 19, 2020
Shawnee Public Schools custodian Lavonne Harris wipes down a door knob at the district’s central office.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

Lysol is Lavonne Harris’ most powerful weapon against pandemic.

The custodian for Shawnee Public Schools is wielding the disinfectant inside her district’s school board room to fight off the novel coronavirus that’s infected hundreds of thousands worldwide.

This stuff will “kill all the germs,” she says.

Oklahoma City Public Schools Board Declares State Of Emergency

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Mar 17, 2020
Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Sean McDaniel at a January press conference
Robby Korth / StatImpact Oklahoma

Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Sean McDaniel was granted emergency powers as the district forms a plan to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Loosening Gun Regulations May Put More Firearms In Oklahoma Classrooms

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Mar 12, 2020
A sign outside the Sterling High School gymnasium warns people that teachers may be armed.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

A bill considered by the state legislature would change training requirements for armed teachers, paving the way for more guns in schools.

Oklahoma Colleges Get Creative To Support Mental Health Treatment As Need Grows

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Feb 27, 2020
Engineering student Duncan Martin touches noses with Sophie, a member of Pete's Pet Posse. The therapy dogs can be found around the Oklahoma State University campus.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

With 80 percent of college students reporting anxiety or depression, schools have to find a way to help students.

How Oklahoma’s Identification Of Gifted Native Students Could Serve As A National Model

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Feb 6, 2020
Libby Osburn teaches a gifted and talented class at Cherokee Elementary School in Tahlequah.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

Most states don't discover gifted Native American students but Oklahoma has been able to buck that trend.

Rural Oklahoma Parents, Teachers Gear Up For Four-Day School Week Fight

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Dec 19, 2019
Erika Buzzard Wright embraces a supporter during a press conference about the future of the four-day school week at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

The fate of the four-day school week, used by dozens of rural districts in Oklahoma, is up in the air.

Oklahoma Doesn’t Screen Students For Dyslexia, The Most Common Learning Disability

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Dec 5, 2019
A group of teachers look on as four students tell their stories of living with dyslexia during a November workshop in Tulsa.
Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

A group of parent and student activists are fighting to add resources in the classrooms of dyslexic students across the state.

Report Suggests Many Gifted And Talented Minority Students Go Unidentified In Oklahoma

By & StateImpact Oklahoma • Dec 2, 2019
A national report found that thousands of gifted and talented black and Latino students aren’t identified by educators in Oklahoma.
Flickr / Jacqui Brown

Thousands of gifted and talented minority students aren’t identified by their schools in Oklahoma, according to a report published last month.