Last year, only a third of the 557 students met grade level in all subjects, compared to 52 percent in the district overall. Nearly 65 percent of Overton students were English-language learners, and 93 percent came from low-income households. Only a handful of them were white.
A year ago, she stood in the middle of her fourth-grade classroom, breaking the students into small groups for a language arts lesson.
To prepare for an upcoming STAAR test, Wilson had the students practice reading comprehension. The kids in one group didn’t understand the phrase “well known,” so she walked them through some examples.
“Let’s think of Beyonce; she’s well known,” Wilson said. “What’s another word for that?”
“Famous,” a student responded.
Related: Mulligans for Wisconsin Elementary Reading Teachers.