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

Oklahoma Teachers Burnt Out, Discouraged By Pandemic According To Survey

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Dec 21, 2020

Pre-K teacher Elvia Walters heads out the door with a bag with school supplies and an iPad for one of her students Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, at Eugene Field Elementary School, in Oklahoma City. — Sue Ogrocki / AP

As the fall 2020 semester ends, Oklahoma teachers are burnt out and discouraged by a semester disrupted by COVID-19. That's according to results of an Oklahoma Education Association survey that measured teacher morale during the pandemic.

Will COVID-19 Pivot In Schools Mean Oklahoma Snow Days Are A Thing Of The Past?

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Dec 16, 2020

Children look out a window on a snowy day. School cancellations could become a thing of the past thanks to distance learning. — Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash Photo

Craig McVay feels awful about it.

The El Reno Public Schools superintendent said there’s no joy in taking away snow days.

Virtual Charter Schools Are Booming, Despite A Checkered Reputation

By Anya Kamenetz & Robby Korth • Nov 30, 2020

Parent Mandii Brower vividly remembers what it was like when her kids' school in Yukon, Okla., switched to distance learning in the spring: "It was just like, we never learned with our teachers again. They never checked on things again." She says "school" consisted of just a few short daily assignments.

"I [couldn't] see my kids' education going that way."

Oklahoma Schools Are Starting To Defy CDC Quarantine Rules

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Nov 20, 2020

If a child in Woodward Public Schools is wearing a mask and is exposed to a person also wearing a mask with COVID-19, they will no longer be required to quarantine.

Stillwater Public Schools Parents Sue District Over Distance Learning Policy

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Sep 28, 2020

Six parents of Stillwater Public Schools students are suing their children’s district over its distance learning policies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Enrollment Explodes During Pandemic

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Aug 12, 2020

A sign is seen outside of 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City, where Epic Charter Schools leases 40,000 square feet for administrative use. — Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch

Enrollment in Oklahoma's statewide virtual charter schools has almost doubled compared to last year.

Oklahoma To Spend $10 Million On PPE For Schools

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Aug 2, 2020

Gov. Kevin Stitt at podium crowded with microphones

With cases of the coronavirus continuing to climb and Oklahoma schools slated to begin next month, Governor Kevin Stitt says he wants kids back in the classroom.

Stilwell High School Students Explore Their Town’s History In NPR Student Podcast Competition

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Jun 26, 2020

This sign proclaiming Stilwell as the "Strawberry Capital of the World" greets visitors as they come into town. — Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

Faith Phillips had a question for her high senior English students at Stilwell High School.

Is this small northeastern Oklahoma town of 4,000 people really the death capital of the United States?

Oklahoma Arts Institute Moves Off Quartz Mountain And Into Students’ Living Rooms

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Jun 25, 2020

Courtesy Oklahoma Arts Institute

Maida Escobar was hesitant to attend the Oklahoma Arts Institute this summer.

She had so many questions about how the state’s premier arts program for high school students could go online.

“I was like how is that gonna work?” the Muskogee High School student said. “Should I even do it? Is it gonna be the same?”

Oklahoma Legislature Passes Budget Over Gov. Stitt's Objections

By Robby Korth • May 14, 2020

Oklahoma’s legislature has passed a budget over the head of the state’s governor. In total, lawmakers passed four bills despite Governor Kevin Stitt’s objections.

Oklahoma Family And Consumer Science Teachers Leverage Pandemic To Teach Home-Life Skills

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • May 8, 2020

Masks assembled by Edmond eighth grader Abby Pike with the help of her parents Terry and Joy Pike. — Courtesy Abby Pike

Eighth grader Abby Pike is putting her Christmas present to good use.

She received a sewing machine for the holiday last year. And amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic she and her family have spent their days and evenings sewing.

Republican Lawmakers Call On State Department Of Education To Protect Four-Day School Weeks

By Robby Korth • May 1, 2020

A group of rural Oklahoma lawmakers are asking the State Department of Education to reconsider rules they say would end four-day school weeks.

New Teachers Will Be Able To Work In The Fall Thanks To State Board Of Education Action

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Apr 24, 2020

A Zoom meeting of Oklahoma's State Board of Education. — Robby Korth / StateImpact Oklahoma

Though it’s unclear what school will look like, recent graduates and others will be able to teach in Oklahoma in fall 2020.

The state school board voted to unanimously allow a one-time, single year certification for people who were on track to get their certification.

COVID-19 Is Changing The Way Oklahoma Schools Are Educating English Learners

By Robby Korth & StateImpact Oklahoma • Apr 23, 2020

A Spanish flyer used by Oklahoma City Public Schools to advertise the beginning of distance learning in the district.

In Moore, students are getting messages in 30-plus languages other than English.

Moore Public Schools is using different methods from recorded phone messages to an application that translates text messages in real time to communicate with its English learners, — those students who live in homes where English isn’t the primary language spoken.

How The University Of Oklahoma Moved Its Classes Online

By Robby Korth & 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 Robby Korth • 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 Quinton Chandler & Robby Korth & 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.