Benton Community Middle School/High School introduced a new program this school year for students who may have learning challenges in attendance, behavior, and/or earning credit in classes. The program is known as “SAT” which stands for student assistance team and serves students who do not receive special education services.
The SAT team has two parts; a leadership team and a team of teachers who are identified as SAT teachers. The leadership team consists of administrators, counselors, instructional coaches, and two staff members. They meet weekly to review student data and review teacher requests for SAT assistance. The SAT teachers use one of their teaching periods daily for their SAT duties. During their SAT time, the teachers will check in with students who need extra help in a class or managing and organizing their day. The SAT teacher may also stop in classes that need extra help with labs or supervision while instruction is taking place. The other half of their period is devoted to preparing materials for upcoming classes, checking student work, or collaborating with administrators or fellow teachers on current educational topics.
The SAT team was a vision that started in the school year 2020 - 2021 and is now being put into practice. The SAT leadership team is continuously examining the SAT process and making subtle changes to help students and staff at Benton Community work to their potential. One small victory to share is that the SAT team saw a reduction in the first quarter “D/F” list of students compared to previous years. The SAT team also has discovered an unintentional celebration of this program is the increased number of co-teaching opportunities and the modeling of good teaching practices among the staff has increased this school year.
