English language learner (ELL) students at MHS were found to have a 2.4% completion rate of A-G credit requirements compared to the general 55.8% in August 2023, Executive Director of Learning and Innovation Priti Johari said at the Feb. 13 MUSD board meeting.
ELL students struggle with completing A-G credits not because they are incapable, but because of a structural issue with scheduling, Johari said.
“If you are an English language learner, sometimes there’s also requirements for the state on the amount of time that you might need to be in an English class, and so that could look like a double block of English classes,” Johari said. “If you have two periods of English, you have less room in your schedule to have an elective class. That’s where students might not be meeting criteria under world languages or fine arts.”
MHS aims to open different pathways to all students by ensuring that they are eligible to apply to University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) schools, Johari said. This school year, administrators and staff are reevaluating which programs and solutions benefit ELL students the most, she added.
“Not all of our graduates are UC-CSU eligible,” Johari said. Completing “A-G correlates with your CSU-UC eligibility, and that’s an area that we can grow, and the area for greatest growth is really in supporting our English language learners.”
MHS has been focusing on solutions that support English-learning students, Assistant Principal Andrew Dinh said. These solutions include the Newcomer Welcome Academy, after-school tutoring, and the hiring of ELL counselor Yolanda Rodriguez, Dinh said. Rodriguez assists ELL students with understanding the A-G process, analyzes the students’ transcripts, and ensures their credit stability, he added.
For the Newcomer Welcome Academy, “newcomers are students who were (at MHS) for less than two to three years, and we focus on students who have very little English language development,” Dinh said. “That means listening, speaking, and writing at near zero level.”
MUSD is also examining MHS’s current courses to see which ones qualify for A-G credit, and is increasing collaboration between teachers and administrators, Coordinator II of English Learners and Math/Literacy Interventions Shannon Soza said.
“We really want all students, but especially our English learners, to be able to have a strong sense of the English language so they’re able to have a job, apply to college, (and) be successful,” Soza said. “That does not mean we want them to lose their home language, so that’s why we have our different pathways to biliteracy for grades three, six and eight, and then our State Seal of Biliteracy for seniors. We really want to emphasize that being multilingual in this world is very important.”
MHS’s ELL student population has increased by 3% since 2017, and there had been a spike in that population following the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinh said.
“Supporting ELLs is difficult, because we need to understand where they’re coming from, making sure that we have someone who can communicate with them,” Dinh said. “Communication is always key. (…) If a kid just came here from another country and they don’t speak any English, they’ve never heard of A-G requirements and high school graduation rates. Our first job is making sure they’re placed in a class and then figuring out how to support them after.”
For students who arrive late, MHS sometimes allows them to complete a fifth year in high school or require less credit completion, Dinh said.
“We need to set some kind of benchmark about what we expect (from) our high schoolers, and I think (A-G requirements) are there for a reason,” Dinh said. “I don’t think they’re too strict, but I do think there could be leeway given depending on the needs of the student. People come from all different backgrounds before they come here, and putting one broad requirement is difficult.”
It is important to hear and understand the perspectives of ELL students who are struggling to complete A-G requirements, and to know what barriers they are facing, Soza said.
“I think one of our strongest parts of Milpitas High School is we embrace people,” Dinh said. “We make them feel included, and we make them feel attached.”
