A Specialized Resource Program (RSP) is a form of special education for students with mild to moderate learning disabilities. It can be led by a qualified Special Education teacher and may involve mainstreaming or extraction time. Ongoing assessment and cooperation between RSP and mainstream teachers are essential for success. Some students may need more than one RSP program or special education classes.
A Specialized Resource Program (RSP) is a form of special education available to students with mild to moderate learning disabilities and who have problems in one or more areas of classroom learning. RSP might be called directed studies in some schools, particularly in middle and high school. It could be a once-a-day class that middle and high school students take to address ongoing learning challenges. In many jurisdictions, public schools are required to have RSP services available to students who request them.
Led by a qualified teacher
An accredited Special Education teacher directs an RSP. This specialized credential helps the teacher address a variety of learning disabilities. Special Ed teachers are also experts in assessing learning difficulties, which may form part of their work, as well as assessing students in achieving pre-set goals. The RSP teacher may employ assistants called resource specialists who work in the RSP classroom or work with individual students or groups as needed. Sometimes, the nominal head of an RSP is a school district Special Ed teacher who administers RSPs in individual schools.
Mainstreaming is a goal
One of the goals of Special Education is to help students learn in normal school settings, which is called mainstreaming. An RSP could be established so that teachers or resource specialists work with students in their traditional classrooms. Especially if many students in a particular class require assistance, the RSP might focus on the teacher or resource specialist who comes to a class and assists at certain points during the day, such as time spent acquiring language or math skills.
Extraction time an option
The needs of each student are often indicated by the Individual Education Plans (IEPs). In some cases, students may benefit from “pull-out” time. In these cases, students visit an RSP classroom for part of the day, possibly every day or several times a week, to work on basic skills. This means that the RSP teacher has to attempt to schedule pick up times to match the schedules of multiple teachers and students often have to try to catch up on things that have been missed in class.
Pickup work can be challenging for students because they may be grouped by needs rather than age or class. Some students, especially older kids, may resent withdrawal time because they may have to make up for material they are missing in class and may receive lower grades in subjects they normally do well at. RSP pull-outs usually trump students’ concerns, however, because students who have IEPs need extra time to master basic skills that will facilitate more advanced learning.
Evaluation continues
An RSP can change each year to accommodate the changing needs of students requiring assistance. An important aspect of any RSP is ongoing assessment of a student’s ability to achieve IEP goals. When IEP meetings are convened each year, benchmarks are set. The RSP teacher must be able to direct his or her teaching methods to help each student achieve individual goals. When goals are not met, more tests may be needed to better define the specifics of a student’s learning challenges.
Cooperation is essential
RSP works best when mainstream teachers cooperate and implement strategies suggested by RSP teachers that are designed to help each student perform at their best. Not all teachers are equally cooperative, although many try hard to be. When RSP instruction takes place without input from the student’s primary teacher, however, the resulting benefits are reduced. For this reason, RSPs that incorporate additional help into the student’s core classroom may be more successful in helping the student with minor learning disabilities. On the other hand, students who are far behind in basic skills such as reading or math may benefit most from pull-out instruction.
Additional additional needs
In some cases, students may not function well in a regular classroom and may need more than one RSP program. Not all students benefit from being educated in traditional settings. The next level up are special education classes, which students attend exclusively instead of in addition to RSP program pull-outs.
Each school or school district may organize Special Ed and RSP classes differently. Sometimes, RSP and Special Ed classes are administered by the same department within a school district. In other cases, the two are completely separate departments. When departments are separated, communication between departments is essential because some students make the transition from special ED classes to mainstream classes with RSP assistance.
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