The Smyrna School District Board of Education discussed potential changes to the Delaware State Testing Program as well as other programs the district provides for students in need of more practice during the school board meeting October 15.
   

Dr. Sandy Shalk, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the school district, said there will be two more years of the Delaware State Testing Program (DSTP) “as we know them.”
   

“On the DSTP’s any student who received a level 1 in grades 3, 5, and 8 on the reading and math portion had to attend summer school unless their classroom grades were good,” Shalk said. “The state no longer requires summer school for poor DSTP scoring. Some school districts may still require summer school for below average DSTP scores.” 
   

Meanwhile, the Statewide Test Committee is planning a new type of test that will go into effect in spring 2011. Some ideas for the new tests include on-line testing, adapted testing, and testing throughout the year opposed to once a year.
   

Using the DSTP more than once throughout the school year will show improvements of students over a shorter period of time, allowing teachers to make adjustments to the curriculum based on how well the students are doing.
   

Adaptive testing would identify where a student is within a grade level. For example 4.1 is a fourth grade, first month level while a 4.6 is a fourth grade, sixth month level.
   

Shalk also reported on two programs the district uses in the schools for students in need of extra reading practice. One of them is “Plugged into Reading” and the other is “CraftPlus.”
   

Plugged into Reading is for varied reading levels to accommodate to all readers. The Plugged into Reading program is being used in grades 7-12 right now.
   

CraftPlus is a writing program that emphasizes modeling. It shows the students a literature model and they study it. Craft Plus is used for grades 5-9 this year. The programs are used by teachers rather than specialists.
   

Another curriculum update was on Response to Intervention (RTI), is a system to support each student in reading and math. RTI is a way of helping identify students that need extra practice. John Bassett Moore Intermediate School (JBM), uses the RTI program. It is the first full year they have used the program.
   

Shalk said there are three levels the program uses to assist different readers.
   

“Tier 1 is support in the classroom with extra practice,” he said. “Tier 2 has smaller group activities opposed to whole group activities in tier 1, and tier 3 is the highest level of support in a smaller setting that offers one-on-one help, and the opportunity to work with specialists or in small groups.”
   

Jim McGuigan, fifth grade teacher at JBM, has been using the program with his students.
   

“All of the tier 2 and tier 3 kids are monitored to make sure they are getting what they need,” he said. “Tier 3 is a glorified way to help identify kids who have learning disabilities in reading.”
   

McGuigan said a tier 3 means a student needs more help than a single classroom setting can give. It allows them extra time after school.
   

“It’s really a good program to have. It’s not a pullout program, the specialists comes to the classroom,” McGuigan said. “Kids really do get the help they need.”
   

Shalk said the administration wants to be sure they’re doing all they can for the students.