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Socorro Independent School District has several complex research-based instructional strategies that provide opportunities to tailor instruction to individual student needs. Because these strategies are designed to move students from basic to more applicable skills, they all require teachers to understand how to continuously monitor student progress, differentiate instruction, and manage multiple groups simultaneously. These approaches are all nested within the district’s overall approach to supporting teaching and learning.

1 – SISD Curriculum and Instruction Plan Chart illustrating the district’s strategic approach to curriculum and instruction.
What to Notice This chart illustrates the district’s strategic approach to curriculum and instruction. The text below it explains the different components and how they fit together. While visual representations of multi-layered systems provide a useful at-a-glance reference, they also highlight which programs and activities are important and how those pieces fit together. This chart illustrates that student goals are the focal point of the system. Key inputs leading to student goals include: the district’s Socorro SchoolHouse information system (implemented in school year 2009-2010); curriculum alignment; Response to Intervention 3-Tier Model; differentiated curriculum; and the 90-minute 5 E’s Model. The state and national standards, district core values, and a continuous cycle of assessment and review form the support and drivers of the work.	Questions to Ask Outside of the required state standards, who decides which standards the district will include in their curriculum? How are those additional standards incorporated along with the state standards? Who is the audience for this chart? Do teachers understand how the various components align to meet student goals? How do central office departments support these different components? How do they come together to connect them? How do principals and teachers learn to use the different components systematically?
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2 – 5-E Lesson Plan model Chart depicting the five cognitive levels addressed within the lesson plans provided to teachers.
What to Notice This chart explains the 5E model used for instruction and subsequently in lesson planning. The 5E model provides an easy way to remember the five cognitive levels that are similar to Bloom’s taxonomy, which moves learners from simple introductory activities to higher applicative ones. The circles and arrows demonstrate how lessons cycle to higher cognitive levels. The circles below depict the depth of skills found within each of the 5E levels. The boxes below the circles provide clear examples of the types of activities each “E” represents.	Questions to Ask How are teachers trained to apply 5E instruction and planning? How do teachers decide when it is appropriate to use these strategies? Who monitors whether teachers are applying all the 5E levels? Is there an expectation about how much time a teacher spends at each level? Who determines which “E” is represented in lesson plans provided by the district? How are principals trained to support and evaluate the use of the 5Es in instruction? How are lessons and assessments at the more applicative “Extend” and “Evaluate” levels balanced with more rote activities often associated with state standards and assessments?
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3 – 3-Tier Model Chart illustrating the district’s application of the 3-Tier model.
What to Notice The 3-Tier model has gained much traction over the past five years as part of the “response to intervention” or RTI model, originally used primarily for students with reading or learning disabilities. The RTI model has a wide research base and has become a preferred method for differentiating instruction for remediation as well as acceleration. This chart provides a visual explanation of the 3-tier model. What is unique about this particular model is the distinction between interventions for behavior and academics. Most charts illustrate the same triangle, but focus on academics only. The colors and boxes make it easy for new users of this model to understand the differences between the three levels, and the percentages set a general expectation for how many learners would likely fall in each category.	Questions to Ask How are teachers trained to use the 3-Tier model? Are principals trained as well? What behavioral intervention, tools, and supports are available to teachers working with Tier II or Tier III students? What tools and supports are available to teachers working with accelerated students in Tier III? Is the 3-Tier model used for other activities outside of instruction, like classroom placement? How are teachers trained to differentiate instruction across the three tiers during the same lesson? How does the 5E model work within the 3-Tier model? Are they distinctly different or is there overlap found in the two models?
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4 – 90-minute instructional model Chart illustrating the 90-minute instructional model for math and reading.
What to Notice The intensive block schedule grew popular in the mid-1990s as a way to provide more intense instruction for students over a semester, rather than the traditional 50-minute classes spanned over a year. This departure from traditional teaching has always made planning and implementing 90-minute instructional blocks very challenging for teachers. This chart provides a good visual illustration of not only how to organize various instructional groups, but also how to physically organize them within a classroom. The grouping format provides the teacher with ample opportunities to differentiate instruction for various student needs. Quite often, the only information teachers have about implementing 90-minute lessons is that they should vary the lesson and consider grouping students to address different needs. However, they receive little instruction on how to divide the time-block and what activities the groups might be doing. At a glance, this chart shows teachers that they will begin with a whole-group lesson for 20 minutes and then direct students into four separate stations for 60 minutes while the teacher works with three different smaller groups for 20 minutes each. The chart shows the activities to be covered in the 60 minute stations and how to divide the smaller groups by ability level. The lesson then wraps up with 10 minutes of whole-group instruction. The format is similar for reading and math.	Questions to Ask How are teachers trained to organize, plan and implement 90-minute lessons? Are math and reading the only subjects using this model? Is it used at the middle and high school levels? Are the students working at the four 60-minute lesson stations doing self-directed work? How do teachers ensure that students remain focused for the entire 60 minutes? What do the small-group students do when they are not working directly with the teacher? Does the district provide model 90-minute lesson plans? If so, how much detail is included in these plans?
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5 – ARMS Instructional Strategies Electronic system used to document intervention strategies for students coded At-Risk.
What to Notice Many districts target and provide interventions to struggling students. However, those interventions are not always documented in a strategic way, and sometimes are not documented at all. The district’s internally developed At-Risk Management System (ARMS) provides a web-based system for teachers to easily select, among a multitude of research-based interventions, strategies for struggling students. The easy-to-use one-stop tool allows teachers to monitor student progress and ensure that students are moved out of the at-risk system when ready. Additionally, it provides a way to communicate which other personnel working with at-risk students to understand which interventions were used, as well as their outcomes to encourage best-practice sharing.	Questions to Ask How are listed interventions selected for the ARMS system? How are students identified as “at-risk?” What mechanism determines when a student is ready to be removed from the list? How are teachers trained to use the various invention strategies? Who monitors the success of the selected strategies? Is there someone to guide teachers who have difficulty finding a strategy for a specific student? Do teachers or other personnel who work with the same at-risk students collaborate to select interventions for these students?
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Schools in Socorro that are identified as low-performing through the state accountability system (either officially or on the verge of receiving the designation) are classified as “priority campuses.” To support priority campuses, the district assigns Technical Assistance Teams (TATs) that provide intense guidance to the campuses.

1 – Technical Assistance Teams (TAT) Sample intervention plan developed for a low-performing school by a TAT
What to Notice This sample TAT intervention form illustrates how the team works to identify needs and develop strategies to provide targeted support for priority schools. The first step provides a snapshot of the areas of concern through state assessment data, disaggregated by student groups. Once the problem area is identified, the team proceeds to drill down further by analyzing individual student data and identifying specific objectives that were not mastered and by considering contributory factors that might contribute to low performance. Those factors are then used to identify strategies intended to mitigate those factors. The form itself is well laid out and clearly takes the user through a specific process of identifying the problem, selecting interventions, and then identifying targets for those interventions. The targets are further articulated into benchmarks, strategies, resources, and timelines. The strategy planning portion in Step 4 begins that process by asking a set of specific questions like, “Will the campus/district make any staffing changes?” Starting with these prescribed questions puts the onus of intense interventions like replacing a principal more on the process rather than on the TAT members.	Questions to Ask Who serves on a TAT team? How many members serve on a TAT team? How are those members selected? How are they trained? Do TAT members develop strategies for a given campus through consensus, or is the work divided by specialty area? How is the school leadership involved in this process? Who monitors the intervention plan? What authority does the TAT have to require the implementation of the plan? What is the TAT’s role after developing the plan? How long does a team remain assigned to a low-performing school? How does the district determine the success of TAT intervention plans, or the strategies within TAT intervention plans?
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Socorro Independent School District has a strong mentoring program to support teachers through their first few years of teaching. The Teacher Induction Program of Socorro (TIPS) is highly structured and reflective and follows the same process for mentoring new teachers that is used by teachers for managing student instruction: data analysis, implementation, evaluation and adjustment.

1 – Mentor Assessment and Training Sample mentor assessment tool and training schedule
What to Notice Though mentors might have exceptional teaching skills, it is not a given that they have had experience in coaching and supporting fellow colleagues. This simple mentor needs assessment allows mentors to identify their knowledge and skills in specific areas that are important for coaching classroom teachers. The more complex skills, such as scripting observations and supporting classroom management, are divided into sub-skills that can each be rated individually. The sample mentor training schedule provides training for many of the same skills identified in the needs assessment. Instruction for many of these sessions is provided by coaches from the highly reputable and researched-based New Teacher Center. In addition to in-person trainings, mentors also engage in an “E-mail Forum.” This example shows an e-mail lesson activity implemented through an allegorical story about student disengagement. The lesson leads mentors through the process of applying the lessons within the story to the learning process, and to respond to particular questions relating to supporting their mentees on the topic of student engagement. This lesson provides a different medium that allows mentors to reflect upon their role in real-life ways.	Questions to Ask How are mentors selected? Is there a set criteria or minimum requirements? Does every mentor take this assessment? Do their responses on the assessment tool appear to match their actual skill set? In what areas do mentors tend to have the most/least training needs? Are all training sessions led by coaches from the New Teacher Center? Other than mentors, what other district personnel assist with or attend the training? What follow-up activities or supports are available after training sessions? Do the mentors receive feedback on how well they implement these skills? How many e-mail forums are mentees expected to participate in? Are mentee responses shared or are they just submitted to one source?
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2 – Classroom Observation tools Sample observation tools used by mentors and new teachers.
What to Notice The district provides observation tools to help mentors and teachers document various elements of classroom instruction. The forms not only help gather information on what is happening in the classroom, they also provide points of discussion for conferencing between mentors, teachers and principals. The TIPS classroom observation protocol documents the presence of specific items, like detailed lesson plans and displays of student work, and specific instructional techniques, like modeling and monitoring for understanding. The second observation protocol is used by teachers to document their observations of master teachers. Completed observation forms are then discussed during debriefs between new teachers and their mentors. This detailed form helps teachers focus on observing areas like procedures, classroom environment, instructional strategies, and discipline that are important for new teachers.	Questions to Ask How often do mentors observe new teachers? How do mentors provide feedback to the teacher following an observation? How comfortable are new teachers with mentor observations? Do they find them helpful? Are mentor observation forms shared with anyone other than mentors, administrators and new teachers? How many times a year may a new teacher observe a master teacher? Do new teachers have an opportunity to discuss their master teacher observations with their mentor?
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3 – Evaluating the Induction Program Sample tools used to evaluate the success of the teacher induction program.
What to Notice The district uses several tools to ensure their induction program is meeting the needs of new teachers. The TIPS Mentor Log identifies the types of mentoring activities and their format and illustrates the results in an easy-to-read pie chart. This log is particularly important for ensuring that mentors are in classrooms frequently, working with teachers and using the most effective strategies. The New Teacher Comparative Data Analysis shows the district’s commitment to conducting a thorough analysis of their induction program to inform the next planning steps. The layout of the report is particularly user-friendly, as it posts each question at the top and a chart below with the number responders in each year. On the following page is a summary of those responses and interpretive comments. The final page provides four next steps for focus over the next year.	Questions to Ask Is there a set amount of time that mentors are expected to work with teachers? Is there an expectation that most of that time will be spent in person? Do mentors log every encounter with teachers, or primarily the formal ones? Who reviews the mentor logs? What happens if a mentor is not spending enough time with teachers? Who performed the data analysis? How have the results been disseminated? Have they been shared outside of the district? What do the results tell you about the induction program? Where there any surprises in the results? Based on these results, what are the biggest areas of focus for the induction program?
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