The Green Team Celebrates Literacy
Individual Student Success Story
Chick-Fil-A reps pose with Alby the Buffalo and MHS VP Todd Dunaway
The English language development teams in Manteca Unified know that students who do not speak, read, write, or understand English well are faced with unique barriers to academic learning. At risk of poor academic outcomes, the District has services, curriculum and many tools in place to teach and learn language development both academically and conversationally for at-promise outcomes. At Manteca High School, nurturing a supportive environment and motivating students to achieve is the secret to individual student success. “It’s a rigorous assessment,”
said teacher Ms. Anna Wooten about the Englishlearner state proficiency assessment. “Students work hard all year to practice the language, demonstrate growth, and pass the exams.” Ms. Wooten teaches students who struggle with early English phonics and comprehension— those identified as an English language learner and with an individualized education plan (IEP). Students have designated time each day for English language development where they practice their reading and writing using an adaptive literacy system which
personalizes instruction based on the student’s area of need. At MHS, they place significant focus on student achievement by recognizing effort and data driven improvement— classroom celebrations are held every Wednesday to recognize those that demonstrated both small and big growth! In Ms. Wooten’s classroom, she explained that there are multiple checkpoints where
“Students work hard all year to practice the language, demonstrate growth, and pass the exams.”
together they set goals, commit to progress, and are honest about their feelings. When targets are established together, students can see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel empowered to persevere on an otherwise daunting and isolative journey.
Just this year MHS has had 16 students who met the rigorous requirements to officially reclassify as English language proficient; This is cause for a BIG celebration! The MHS administration team, Alby the mascot, English language development teachers, and their partners at Chick-Fil-A host a VIP event with food, lemonade, certificates of recognition, memorabilia, and a photo moment to document this milestone achievement students have put years of hard work into.
English language development is a growing part of K-12 student population and in MUSD, over 20% of the student body is identified as an English language learner. The District’s Board of Education, Superintendent and leadership teams prioritize the unique need of emerging students and have an ongoing strategic plan to strengthen services in place that will meet the increasing and changing community need. We are proud of the work being done at school sites that cultivate an environment for individual student success.
TODAY A READER. TOMORROW A LEADER.
What is individual student success in MUSD? The phrase ‘individual success’ refers to a student’s unique academic and social-emotional pathway to exhibiting growth, reaching grade level standards, high school graduation, college and/or career readiness. When student assessments take place, a team of qualified personnel evaluates this valuable data to determine if a student needs specialized and individual support to aid them in their educational journey.
When a student excels through their unique pathway, we call this individual student success.
