New position created to help SP students

The South Putnam Community School Corporation Board Monday night voted to approve the advertising of a new position to provide assistance to students in need of extra instructional help.

Middle/High School Principal Kieth Puckett requested the board allow him to advertise for a Response to Instruction (RtI) counselor. He explained this position would be a "hybrid" of the RtI coach and a counselor.

He said about one-fourth of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students need more help than what a conventional classroom can provide. Currently there is one special education instructor working with all students with extra instructional needs. These students are not classified as needing special education classes, but are in need of additional resources.

Board president Wesley Hacker asked if the purpose of the new position was to be proactive and help the students in need, and Puckett agreed.

"Intervention is the whole point of RtI, and it is simply that (we are asking) 'What are your issues? What do you need from us?' and guide them into tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 intervention," Puckett explained.

Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt explained several years ago, the classification of students changed and required additional steps be taken in the general population before being referred to the special education program.

"In previous years, many students that were struggling academically were labeled into special education ... Different rules and regulations that were adopted by the legislature requires to address the general population and provide with this Response to Instruction as it's called ... Most often, the majority of these students are not special ed anyway, but in the past they got funneled that way because we had no other program," Bernhardt explained.

Bernhardt announced this year's ISTEP testing is finished for the most part, aside from a few students still taking make-up tests. He praised the teachers administering the exam for their hard work, despite issues of receiving information about the test in an untimely fashion with several changes to the test.

He stressed teachers went out of their way to ease the pressure of test taking by making students feel as if it was a normal instructional day.

Puckett noted school officials received word CTB-McGraw Hill, which administered the test this year, will not be the ISTEP provider next year. The state will be working with Pearson for the ISTEP testing next year.