Despite progress on state tests, New Mexico scrapes the bottom of the rankings on nationwide exams. The state is ranked 50th in the country in reading and math in a 2024 report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which showed only 20% of fourth graders were proficient in reading and 23% were proficient in math. The results from the 2025 NAEP test are expected early next year.

“Our state assessment and NAEP aren’t necessarily aligned exactly, but I do think if we see progress on the state assessment, you should expect to see at least some progress on NAEP,” said Amanda Aragon Bernabe, executive director of education nonprofit New Mexico Kids CAN. “And when I saw today’s results, I’m not convinced that’s going to move the needle for us on the NAEP assessment.”

Aragon Bernabe said she’s not convinced the latest efforts to bolster reading and math from the state will be enough to see the kind of progress New Mexico needs to get itself off of the bottom of the list.

“I think I’m just really sad that the positive things that have been put in place aren’t reaching their full potential yet,” she said. “I think that’s just going to take more accountability than people have been comfortable with, and a lot more discomfort for the leaders of our systems than maybe people have been willing to take in the past.”