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"The student growth guarantee tells you enough about the program. They believe in it as much as you should — because if it's not growing your kids, they're willing to give you your money back." — Bianca Barrera, Literary Coach at Socorro ISD
Background & Context
Socorro ISD serves roughly 45,000 students in the El Paso region with more than 7,300 Emerging Bilingual scholars and over 50% of the student population classified as economically disadvantaged.
For years, Socorro operated ELD and ESL courses through its bilingual department with dedicated TEKS and well-intentioned structure. Nonetheless, campuses were left to their own devices when it came to choosing core materials. Some used paper-based materials. Others turned to textbooks, but none of it was moving the needle in terms of accelerating reclassification — growth had flatlined at 1–2% year over year.
The Challenge
When Socorro's bilingual team sat down to review TELPAS data, they saw that speaking gains had been strong, but writing — the domain that demands the fullest command of a language — was lagging. It's the hardest output, and the most revealing. When students can write with precision and academic fluency, it showcases their true command of the language. Socorro needed a program built to stretch students’ vocabulary and academic language.
The Search for a Better Solution
Socorro's criteria for a new program was that it needed to be TEKS-aligned for ELDA courses, mirror the Cambium testing environment students would encounter on TELPAS, integrate AI feedback across all four domains, and generate the adaptive, personalized practice that static textbooks couldn't provide. It also needed to work at scale — eventually across every secondary campus in the district.
Connect to Literacy™ checked every box.
"We were pretty much sold because it really checked off all of the boxes for a program that was looking to fit the needs of those classes," Barrera explains.
The Solution
Socorro started with a five-campus pilot that included one elementary school, one K–8 campus, two middle schools, and one high school, all chosen based on data and student population needs. Three professional development sessions were held during that first year. BOY, MOY, and EOY benchmark windows were established.
Not every campus came on board immediately — one school held out until December, resistant to a new platform targeting its bilingual population specifically. But once onboarded, that campus followed the same pattern as the rest: the platform worked, teachers grew more confident, and results followed.
Year two brought a district-wide expansion. All sixteen middle schools and six comprehensive high schools came on board, with licenses allocated for every bilingual student. The rollout was smooth. Campuses from the pilot year shared their experiences with incoming schools, and the team arrived at implementation year two knowing exactly what to expect.
Most Impactful Features
- TELPAS-Mirrored Assessment Design — Students practice in a format that closely mirrors the real exam, building familiarity with question types and reducing test-day anxiety across all four domains
- Adaptive PLPs — Personalized Learning Plans calibrate to each student's current proficiency level and adapt as they grow — meeting every learner where they are and keeping instruction precise
- TELPAS Data Upload — The ability to bypass the BOY benchmark by uploading existing TELPAS data and generating PLPs directly from those scores saved critical instructional time and was one of the most celebrated features among teachers
- AI-Integrated Feedback — Immediate, AI-scored feedback on speaking and writing aligned to how students are actually assessed, removing guesswork from both practice and preparation
- BOY / MOY / EOY Benchmarks — Structured assessment windows created consistent checkpoints across all campuses, keeping teachers, students, and district leadership aligned throughout the year
Ongoing Partnership and Support
Socorro's relationship with Summit K12 extended well beyond the platform. Tech support responded quickly to access and login issues. Trainers led PD sessions that evolved alongside the district's implementation. Sales team check-ins kept communication open as Socorro approached renewal and as new platform features were introduced.
What stood out most, though, was the partnership philosophy — treating districts as partners, not clients — shaped the implementation experience at every level.
The Results
Before Summit K12, EB exit growth at Socorro ISD had been stagnant for years — hovering at 1–2% annually. The numbers told a story of effort without traction.
That story has changed.
- 5% EB exit growth in Year 1 — more than doubling the previous rate and establishing a new baseline
- Near 10% EB exit growth in Year 2 — approaching the director's target, with a goal of 10–15% in view
- Increased teacher confidence in TELPAS preparation, with educators reporting less uncertainty and greater clarity in supporting EB students
- Stronger student confidence heading into TELPAS — no surprises, because the platform had already prepared them for exactly what the assessment would require
- Instructional time recovered through the TELPAS data upload feature, giving teachers back classroom time they previously spent on benchmark testing
This is what it looks like when a district commits to the right program, implements it with fidelity, and builds on it year over year.
