Project TRIO - Transforming Rural Instructional Opportunities
Project TRIO, an onsite collaborative effort between four rural districts and the University of Texas at El Paso,  increased the number of qualified bilingual educators within the rural consortia and with the goal of closing the achievement gap of language minority students with limited English proficiency. Project TRIO was a five year project. This collaboration with the four rural districts (Clint, Fabens, San Elizario, and Tornillo) was solicited because of specific rural situations and innate challenges: geographical isolation, limited resources for assistance and training, seasonal unemployment of working families and a large population of students with limited English proficiency.
The project built capacity by graduating and increasing the amount of pre-service bilingual education majors; graduating its second cohort of Master level Instructional Specialist in bilingual education with focus on Two-Way Dual Language; developing courses at the university that have enhanced the undergraduate and graduate bilingual education curriculum to include preparation of in-service and pre-service teachers for the rural consortia and Two-Way Dual Language classrooms; creating annual Summer Institutes specific to research-based literacy development for first and second language learners. In addition, Project TRIO implemented a teacher preparation program specific to the needs of its participants by delivering classes and information to the students in the most feasible forms possible to include distance and web-based instruction and delivering the latest information regarding Bilingual Education at the national and state levels by providing an extensive amount of professional development in the area of bilingual education specific to the needs of the rural consortium and dual language programs; participating in national, state and regional conferences; and disseminating information about Project TRIO's effectiveness in the border community.