Lessons in Leading Change Management in Texas Schools
Written by Anne Bannister & Christine Lowak | Photography by Joel Goudeau & Karen Wang | A Charles Butt Foundation Production
Our collection of Blended Learning Stories shines a light on the work of the second cohort of Raising Blended Learners® districts. Each district receives professional development, financial support, and tailored coaching to pilot and scale blended and personalized learning practices. From there, district journeys diverge based on their determination of their unique needs, opportunities, and goals. Just as a blended learning classroom is personalized, so too is a district’s vision and plan.
Socorro ISD represents an exemplary pilot program that embedded blended learning into its literacy framework and growth targets as a district. While the core tenets of change management may be familiar, this case study offers an in-depth look at the experiences of practitioners as they scale best teaching and learning practices
“I live by the word ‘believe.’ It’s believing that all means all. Believing that blended learning is possible at every campus. In every classroom. Because it benefits all kids.”
“Three to five years from now, it should be common practice. It should be standard. Not standard because we’ve obligated people to do it, but rather standard practice because it’s a best practice.”
Directed & edited by Anne Bannister | Cinematography by Anne Bannister, Joel Goudeau, Jay Moreno, & Karen Wang | Interviews by Christine Lowak | A Charles Butt Foundation Production
Meet Socorro ISD
Socorro ISD is a large school district in the El Paso area, serving approximately 47,000 students, 91.6% identifying as Hispanic. The district is 100% Title 1, with 13.6% of students from military-connected families.
El Paso is part of a tri-city borderplex made up of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Together, these cities form the largest bilingual and binational workforce in the Western Hemisphere.
Despite the geographic size, when queried as to what makes Socorro and El Paso stand out, the universal response is, “family” and “culture.”
“It’s not two countries, three states, three cities. It’s one community,” Miguel Moreno, Coordinator of Technology explains of the culture in Socorro ISD. “Whether it’s the farming community, whether it’s the military presence, whether it’s both affluent and less affluent parts of our district, it’s all consistently brought back to what we are doing that’s good for the community as a whole, and not just for a specific population. The diversity that exists is the same diversity that we have in our classrooms.”
This familial culture and community pride result in a highly dedicated and motivated team of educators who strive for continuous improvement, innovation, and equitable opportunity for all learners.
It’s with this mentality that district leadership sought out the Raising Blended Learners (RBL) demonstration initiative. In 2019, district leaders identified a significant gap in student mastery of early literacy concepts. In their RBL application, they detailed the following problem of practice:
“The power of literacy lies in the ability to read, write, and apply skills throughout life. Our state assessment data shows only 49% of our third-grade students passed the reading assessment at grade-level standards, therefore proving the need to modify and refine our early literacy practices.”
Buoyed by successes seen in blended learning pilot classrooms over the last four years – including substantial gains in literacy skills, and increased student agency and engagement – the district team is committed to scaling these best practices system-wide.
To do this, the district leadership team deliberately cultivated a shared vision, skills, resources, and action plan to support the sustainability and scale of a complex change management initiative.
These are the key lessons they learned.