Socorro ISD Case Study
Expanding Foundational Literacy Support for Secondary Multilingual Learners
How Socorro ISD Increased High School TELPAS Performance by 26 Points
Socorro ISD launched a grant-funded Really Great Reading pilot in December 2023 to strengthen foundational literacy instruction for emergent bilingual students in grades 6–12. Between 2024 and 2025, TELPAS performance as the district expanded explicit, systematic instruction, professional learning, coaching, and implementation support.
Socorro Independent School District (Socorro ISD) serves 46,668 students across 50 campuses in El Paso, Texas, including a large population of emergent bilingual students.
- El Paso, Texas
- 46,668 Students
- 2,807 Teachers
- 50 Campuses
- 6 High schools
- 11 Middle schools
- 5 Pre-K - 8 schools
- 25 Elementary schools
- 3 Specialty campuses
- 95.2% Minority Students
- 72% Economically Disadvantaged
- 15% Special Education
- 29% Emergent Bilingual
Socorro ISD had established supports for language acquisition, but many secondary emergent bilingual students continued to struggle with decoding, word recognition, and other foundational reading skills. District leaders needed a more consistent approach to foundational literacy instruction across grades 6–12, with resources designed for older multilingual learners.
Socorro ISD saw its strongest gains at the high school level, where Closing the Gaps performance increased 26 points between 2024 and 2025.
District leaders had identified a specific need among secondary emergent bilingual students: language acquisition supports were in place, but many students still needed explicit instruction in decoding, word recognition, and other foundational reading skills.
Rather than treating those gaps as fixed, Socorro built a more intentional secondary literacy approach around them.
What began as a grant-funded pilot in December 2023 became a broader investment in foundational literacy for emergent bilingual students across grades 6–12.
As the district expanded implementation, leaders also built the systems needed to support it: professional learning, coaching, pacing calendars, classroom observations, implementation checklists, and ongoing feedback.
That work helped Socorro move toward greater consistency across secondary bilingual classrooms while maintaining visibility into what was happening in instruction.
Districtwide Closing the Gaps performance increased 17 points during that period.
Socorro ISD’s work was not limited to adopting a new instructional resource. The district invested in helping teachers better understand the reading needs in front of them.
As educators strengthened their knowledge of foundational literacy, they became better equipped to identify the skills underlying students’ difficulties and respond more intentionally.
"Teachers moved beyond recognizing that students were struggling and began understanding why they were struggling."
Socorro ISD strengthened literacy support for secondary multilingual learners by aligning foundational literacy instruction, professional learning, and implementation systems across campuses.
Socorro ISD implemented Really Great Reading to provide secondary emergent bilingual students with explicit, systematic foundational literacy instruction and address persistent reading skill gaps.
Teachers completed implementation training and received ongoing coaching, walkthrough feedback, and professional learning to strengthen instructional practice and implementation consistency.
Pacing calendars, implementation checklists, classroom observations, and coaching conversations helped district leaders monitor implementation and continuously refine instruction.
See how districts like Socorro ISD are strengthening literacy outcomes for multilingual learners through structured literacy instruction, implementation support, and educator professional learning.