The TIFT Mission
The Teachers Institute of Tulsa is an organization dedicated to the development of local educators in Tulsa Public Schools. Each year we host professional learning seminars that collectively cover the core curricular subjects: history, English, math, and science. TIFT initially ran from 2017-19, and was reinstated in 2023. As the program looks ahead, we see opportunities to provide unique professional learning opportunities to teachers: long-term seminars, a collaborative and intellectually rigorous atmosphere, a balanced focus between content knowledge and pedagogy, and a network of teachers across school sites, disciplines, and grade levels.
The Teachers Institute for Tulsa follows the Yale National Initiative’s “Teachers Institute” approach to enact change on both the teaching profession and student learning outcomes. Their “Theory of Change” demonstrates the positive impact of a Teachers Institute on such things as teacher morale, teacher leadership and performance, collaboration and teacher networks, and content knowledge.
TIFT is a member of a league of Teachers Institutes across the nation: Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Delaware. These organizations are guided by a singular goal: to equip teachers in high-needs, low-income districts with the resources they need to be effective educators and leaders in their schools.
Our Staff
Daniel Thater, Director
Before directing the Teachers Institute for Tulsa, Daniel Thater spent 3 years in Tulsa Public Schools as a high school English teacher at Booker T. Washington High School. As a useful introduction to the teaching profession, Daniel was a student teacher under Carrie Dry at Edison Middle School and Jayme Howland at Booker T. He also spent a semester working as substitute in TPS, seeing what the district looked like from multiple classrooms and school sites. As a graduate student at the University of Tulsa, Daniel worked at the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, helping host and promote various speakers and events. He has a master’s degree from the University of Missouri and is currently working on his PhD in English at the University of Tulsa.
Tara McKee, City Representative
Tara McKee has been teaching at Booker T Washington High School for 17 years, and is committed to bettering Tulsa Public Schools and advocating for teachers. She has been involved with the Yale National Initiative and Teachers Institute for Tulsa since 2017, serving as a City Representative for both. Tara wholeheartedly believes in the work that TIFT and YNI does for public schools— empowering teachers while they write their own curriculum for their students. She hopes to help grow participation in TIFT so that more Tulsa Public School teachers can benefit from this powerful, engaging professional learning opportunity. As of now, she has 10 curriculum units published through her involvement in YNI and TIFT.
Councils and Committees
University Advisory Council Members:
- Jennifer Airey, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
- Lars Engle, Chapman Professor of English
- Lara Foley, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Sociology
- Bob Pickering, R.M. and Ida McFarlin Dean of the Library and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
- Robert Sheaff, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Teacher Steering Committe:
- Tina Berry, Fine Arts Teacher at Will Rogers MS/HS
- Tara McKee, Tulsa City Representative and IB and AP English Teacher at Booker T. Washington HS