Kentucky Teacher

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Northern Elementary School (Pulaski County) Family Resource Center Coordinator Beth Rowlands talks to 5th-grade students about "walking in someone else's shoes" during the Pulaski Elementary School anti-bullying program. Photo by Amy Wallot, Aug 24, 2012

To 5th graders at Pulaski Elementary School (Pulaski County), trying to put toothpaste back in the tube is a lesson in frustration. To Counselor Sue Stickley, it’s a lesson on bullying.

The activity is one of many that 5th-grade boys and girls participate in as part of a full-day, multi-session program that covers topics like bullying, empathy, tolerance and rumors/gossip – the point of the toothpaste exercise. “The activity does a great job of showing them that once you’ve said something, even if you try to take it back, the damage is done and you can’t ever completely undo that damage,” Stickley said.

It’s also one of the few lessons for both the boys and the girls, who are split into gender-specific programs called VIG (Very Important Girls) and NGA (No Girls Allowed), she said.

“It’s not like we have a huge bullying problem here, but it’s a concern in every school,” Stickley said.

Kentucky Safe Schools Week, Oct. 21-27, is focused on bullying this year, with the theme “Bullying: Be Part of the Cure.” During the week-long campaign students and educators are being asked to do their part to help stop bullying and create safe climates in their schools. Continue Reading

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Principal Jon Hoskins, 2nd-grade teacher Andrea Brandenburg, curriculum coach Melissa Miles and counselor Ashley Farmer discuss student progression during a school-level Response to Intervention meeting at Westside Elementary School (Harrison County). Photo by Amy Wallot, Sept. 14, 2012

Kentucky public schools have long been intervening with students labeled as “at-risk” and those who have not met proficiency benchmarks.

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a common practice in schools because of this. Under the Kentucky Systems for Interventions (KSI) umbrella, RtI is a practice of providing high-quality instruction to students that matches their needs, said JennyLynn Hatter, supervisor of instruction for the Harrison County school district.

But as Kentucky education is ever changing, so must RtI change, said April Pieper, academic program manager for the Differentiated Learning Branch at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).

Pieper has been working on the RtI national model to see how it should be implemented in Kentucky. She said the model is directed at students who aren’t performing on grade level and how to best intervene with those students so they don’t get further and further behind.

However, the Kentucky team looking at RtI believes what’s missing from the national model concerns students who are above benchmarks and need interventions to keep them engaged and challenged.

“We know nationally a good portion of our dropouts are students who are identified as gifted and talented, so we want to make sure we are watching both ends of the extremes,” Pieper said. “That is the difference.” Continue Reading