By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson USD 308 Superintendent Mike Folks says that the number of students needing tutoring is up slightly this year. Folks recently gathered information from the district's schools.
Folks says, despite the lack of face-to-face class time last year, students are still doing pretty well in school.
“Last year with remote and hybrid learning our numbers were down,” Folks said. “Numbers this year for tutoring across the district are more normal of a typical year or up a little bit.”
One area where Folks is seeing some cause for concern is students' ability to re-engage teachers and others in the classroom due to remote learning.
“I heard a common theme and teachers were sharing that kids are having a hard time being engaged in their learning coming off remote and hybrid learning and all of the pivots,” Folks said. “And even if they are physically there, their attention span is a little bit shorter, so there is some concern.”
Last year, USD 308 provided extra services to students who may have fallen behind due to the changes in learning. Folks says they plan to offer that again this year.
“We’re monitoring the academic progress of our students and we hope we can get them all caught up,” Folks said. “We had summer school last year and we had a number of kids that took advantage of that. We are going to have summer school again this coming summer and we hope that our numbers double.”
All USD 308 schools offer tutoring programs for students that include full-time and para instructors. The district also uses a tutoring program through Boys and Girls Club.
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