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Over the last week, the NMPED released key information about the overall performance of New Mexico’s education system, including 2023 statewide assessment data and graduation rates for the class of 2022. This information was long overdue. We wanted to provide you with a summary of what the data shows and what it means for New Mexico’s students.
2023 STATE ASSESSMENT RESULTS
On Wednesday, 2023 state assessment results were released. These results come three months after NMPED originally stated they would be released, leaving many educators and parents waiting in anticipation.
The results reveal both good and bad news for New Mexico’s students. In English Language Arts (ELA), statewide proficiency is 38%, an increase of 4 percentage points from last year, according to the NMPED. This growth in ELA is a notable increase and great news for our students. NewMexicoKidsCAN has strongly advocated for the implementation of structured literacy in New Mexico classrooms and we hope this is the beginning of a long-term trend of improved ELA results for New Mexico schools and districts.
The news is not so great when it comes to mathematics. The NMPED reports the statewide proficiency in math is 24%, which is a 1% decrease from the 25% reported last year. The NMPED is reporting no change. Unfortunately, the data is inconsistent and it is unclear whether math results are flat or if, in fact, math results declined by 1 percentage point.
The following are the highest-performing districts from this year’s state assessment results:
Highest ELA proficiency: Roy Municipal Schools – 78.9%
Highest ELA growth: Pojoaque Valley School District – 26.7 percentage point increase
Highest mathematics proficiency: Los Alamos Public Schools – 61.2%
Highest mathematics growth: Vaughn Municipal Schools – 13.2 percentage point increase
To view your student’s state assessment results, contact your child’s teacher or their school’s administrative office or principal.
GRADUATION RESULTS
Last week, the NMPED quietly released graduation results for the class of 2022. These results come 16 months after the class of 2022 graduated. The results reveal a 76% graduation rate for New Mexico in 2022, a slight decrease from 76.8% in 2021. Our state’s largest school district, Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), had a 69.45% graduation rate in 2022, a 6.25-point decrease from 2021 (75.70%).
The class of 2022 was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s public health order. Students in this class began virtual learning at the end of their sophomore year and many remained virtual through the majority of their junior year.
The graph below shows graduation rates for the state’s ten largest school districts from the past five years. Collectively, the ten largest districts serve approximately 80% of the state’s students.
To view graduation rates for your district and school, click here.
Overall, the news of decreased graduation rates and continued low proficiency rates is concerning. Additionally, there are many transparency issues with this year’s data release, which still has not been published on the NMPED’s website. The released data and proficiency scores do not include information about student performance on the SAT, in early-literacy or in science, nor does the data include breakdowns in performance by district and school. Without this critical information, it is challenging to identify bright spots and areas of concern. We are advocating for this data to be made available to the public quickly and transparently so that we can better understand the complete picture and what interventions are needed to make the improvement our students deserve.
These disappointing results do not have to be our reality. Together, as a community, we can work collectively to write a new story. With strong leadership and community support, we can create an education system that all New Mexico students deserve.