Upward Journey

In a poor Texas border town, educators are achieving notable results with a single-minded focus on students.

Hidalgo, Texas

The schools in this town used to be among the worst in Texas. But now, the low-income Latino children who fill its classrooms are outperforming students in wealthier, whiter communities.

Here on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, school district leaders chalk up the change to a deceptively simple reconception of how school systems should work. Students, they say, must be at the heart of everything, with every service and program—from janitorial assignments to curriculum design—shaped by what will help them the most.

Under that guiding principle, the district’s leaders have revamped all of its operations, energizing the staff and producing academic results that...