More instructional time an important step to address education crisis
New Mexico’s education system is in crisis. In 2023 our state ranked dead last in reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the educational assessment often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card. Only 18% of New Mexican eighth graders are reading proficiently, its lowest point since 2007, and only 13% of our eighth graders are proficient in math, a 30-year low.
These scores are unacceptable, and they don’t reflect the immense potential of our students.
Educators are battling this crisis in schools from Santa Fe to Las Cruces. As superintendent of the district of Bernalillo Public Schools, I can tell you that I see it right here in my own community every day. We must create big, systemic changes to achieve the equitable opportunities we desire.
So where do we start? The reality is that our students desperately need more high-quality instructional time in the classroom. New Mexico students lag far behind their peers in almost every other state in the number of days they spend in school.
In fact, the annual school year varies widely even within our own state, creating inequalities and imbalances among New Mexican communities. These inequalities add up, with students in some areas getting two fewer years of education than others by the time they graduate.
That simply isn’t fair to our kids.
The New Mexico Public Education Department’s decisive steps to expand the school year in our state to 180 days is a common-sense approach to addressing a solvable issue. As educators, we have long known about “summer lag.”
This is not unique to New Mexico, but it is something that our antiquated calendar is built upon. We know that a lack of continuity of instruction creates greater gaps in academic achievement, especially for students with higher risk factors.
By creating a minimum expectation of instructional time for every student in New Mexico, we create an expectation that all students should have equitable opportunities to succeed regardless of ZIP code or background.
But simply adding more time in the classroom will not close the opportunity gaps among our students. We must be certain that we have more quality instructional time provided by highly effective and well-supported teachers.
In order to achieve this, we must have transparent accountability measures that are clear to all stakeholders, focused on student outcomes and well-being, and built on the fundamental belief that all students can achieve.
Skeptics of these efforts are correct that school schedules and budgets are complex and high stakes. But the real stakes are our children’s futures.
Change is always hard, and there is never a perfect time to implement a paradigm shift. But we cannot expect student outcomes to change until adult behaviors change.
No one looking at New Mexico’s achievement can deny the urgency of this moment. We cannot deny that as educators, we are responsible for the economic mobility of our students.
We must uphold the sacred covenant we have with our students and families and provide them with equitable opportunities. Our state has had opportunities to capitalize on bold education reform efforts in the past, and we have abandoned them because they made us uncomfortable. Let us not miss this opportunity now.
We tell our students in Bernalillo that they are powerful and that they can achieve difficult things through hard work, determination, and a strong belief in their ability to succeed.
With the same determination and hard work we expect of our students, I believe that New Mexico can provide a world-class education to all of our children.