APS students’ results uneven on PARCC tests
State shows slight gain, but officials acknowledge there’s a long way to go
Albuquerque Public Schools had mixed results on the latest round of PARCC testing, seeing marginal gains in math but drops in English compared with 2015, and the majority of students continue to fall below benchmarks in both subjects.
The district fared particularly poorly in third-grade English: only 21.4 percent met reading standards, a drop of 10 percentage points from last year, according to data released by the state Public Education Department on Thursday.
Across New Mexico, 24.1 percent of third-graders were on target in English versus 24.8 percent in 2015 — the only test to see a decline statewide. Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera attributed that change to APS’ students dragging down the average.
“We wouldn’t have had that negative (change) had that not been the case,” she said.
Overall, APS performed better than the state average: 20.4 percent were proficient in math and 28.1 percent in English, compared with 19.9 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively, for New Mexico as a whole.
But APS fell a percentage point in English for all grades and only improved 1 percentage point in math compared with 2015. Statewide, English scores improved by 1.3 points and math scores went up 2.3 points. Of the 89 school districts in New Mexico, 57 had boosts in English and 77 in math.
APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy touted her district’s comparatively good scores but said she is committed to improving.
“The results do show that both as a district and as a state we need to do more to help students achieve at a higher
level,” she said in an emailed statement.
APS’ neighbor, Rio Rancho Public Schools, continued to do better than the state as a whole: 29 percent of its students reached the benchmark in math and 38 percent in English. Like APS, however, the district slid backward in English, falling 4 percentage points.
In total, 217,000 students in grades 3-11 took PARCC in 2016 — 97 percent of those eligible for the exam. That’s a slight increase from the 95 percent participation rate in 2015, when the test was administered for the first time amid walkouts and protests.
Skandera said she is happy about the improvements in New Mexico’s scores overall but stressed that there is still a long way to go.
“We established the baseline last year, and we’re on our way with good improvements,” she told the Journal. “We have never seen this kind of improvement across grade levels in our recent history . ... We need to keep pushing for where we want to be next.”
The secretary highlighted successes in two rural areas, Farmington and Gadsden, which are performing better than most of the state and saw large gains.
Farmington went up more than 8.5 percentage points in English to 36.3 percent proficiency.
Both districts have embraced educational reforms, leading to the strong results, according to Skandera.
“If you push to improve, the sky’s the limit,” she said.
Las Cruces also went up by about 3 percentage points in math and English, reaching 19.6 and 27.5 percent proficiency, respectively.
Los Alamos again was a standout — over 50 percent of its students met or exceeded expectations on many tests.
Santa Fe fell below the state average in both English and math, hitting 26 percent and 17 percent proficiency, respectively.
American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly acknowledged the gains but said they are “minimal.”
“Despite small increases, the fact remains that across the board, New Mexico students are not proficient, according to PARCC,” she said in an emailed statement. “It is clear PARCC is not working for our students, and with high-stakes decisions like teacher evaluations, student graduation, and mandatory retention being based on these scores, Secretary Skandera is doing a disservice to our students and education professionals by continuing to use the PARCC assessment in New Mexico schools.”
Eleven states administer PARCC, which stands for the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers. The computerized exam is designed to align with Common Core and raise standards.
WE ESTABLISHED THE BASELINE LAST YEAR, AND WE’RE ON OUR WAY WITH GOOD IMPROVEMENTS. HANNA SKANDERA SECRETARY OF EDUCATION