UTC School Psychology prepares to kick off the Rural Assessment Intervention Library

The RAIL System team includes, from left, Dr. Heather Nudd (UTC), Dr. Merilee McCurdy (UT Knoxville), Dr. April Ebbinger (Tennessee Department of Education), Dr. Amanda Hardin (UTC) and Dr. Patrick Morin (UTC).

As the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga welcomes the class of 2029, the Department of School Psychology is ready to introduce the Rural Assessment Intervention Library (RAIL) System for school districts across the state to use to help children get the services they need.

With dozens of test kits available to check out, the RAIL System will help school districts participating in Project Raise—a grant funding school psychology, school counseling and school social work internships in rural counties—receive access to assessments they would not have otherwise.

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Starting on Aug. 25, the RAIL System will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. RAIL’s website will be housed within the UTC School Psychology webpage.

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UTC Director of School Psychology Amanda Hardin came up with the concept for RAIL in April 2024 after learning about the UT System Grand Challenges initiative. With the idea to connect service providers to limited resources, she has spearheaded its journey from dream to reality.

After working as a school psychologist in urban and rural areas, it was clear to Hardin how much help rural school districts need. With a clear track ahead, she believes RAIL is a way to make a difference.

“Oftentimes the rural districts are like, ‘You have this much money, what do you want to get?”’ Hardin said. “Now with RAIL, they can actually look at their options physically and check it out.”

After grant funding began in January, Hardin and her team began purchasing assessments, arranging RAIL’s physical space and building a website.

Now, they are ready to launch RAIL with an Aug. 25 ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Department of School Psychology’s Hunter Hall office. The library’s resources will be shared with over 50 rural school districts in Tennessee.

Although RAIL was set up with school psychologists specifically in mind, school counselors, school social workers, special education teachers and other special education staff may use RAIL’s resources as long as they are qualified to do so.

With dozens of test kits and resources, RAIL also serves as a resource for UTC School Psychology students, providing them with easy access to a wide variety of assessments to study and practice with as they prepare for their future careers.

“Students will also have the ability to look at and check out test kits that are available,” Hardin said, “so it will be a great resource because there is literally testing in there that I’ve never given. I’m super excited to see some of them.”

While the grant only covers two years of funding, the Tennessee Department of Education plans to fund RAIL after its grant period is complete. In addition, Hardin is searching for other ways to raise money to expand RAIL—and, in turn, help more people access the services they need.

“I would like to provide professional development for these rural school districts because that’s one of the big things that they struggle with getting,” Hardin said.

“I would love for us to be able to offer in high school—particularly starting sophomore or junior year—transition services because that’s twofold. It’s not only helping them, but it also helps the university system by hopefully getting more people to experience higher ed.”