The context: La Joya ISD — under conservatorship since February 2024 for financial reasons — saw dramatic achievement gains in 2026.
The plan: Superintendent Dr. Marcey Sorensen and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Derek Little led an effort for “Managed Instruction”:
• High Quality Instructional Materials: firm expectations for their use
• Instructional Planning Calendars: a clear lesson roadmap for teachers
• Curriculum partners: presence and coaching in schools
• Regular walkthroughs: intensive expectation-setting
• Staffing changes: where appropriate, including the state’s Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) Model
To ensure that all of these elements came together to drive real results quickly at the campus level, La Joya leaders partnered with District Management Group’s Breakthrough Results Transformation Schools Program for its most struggling campuses.
Breakthrough Results: Engine for Transformation
Why it matters: In a high-accountability context with many simultaneous initiatives, teachers and leaders need thought partners who keep them focused on data and outcomes.
What Breakthrough Results provides: whole-school transformation for school improvement through leadership coaching and rapid-cycle performance coaching for instruction and attendance.
The takeaway: “Managed Instruction” takes intensive effort at the district and campus level. Outside partners help teachers connect district change efforts to tangible, short-term wins — a key part of La Joya’s transformation story.
