New Mexico Public Education Department Releases 2023

PED News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) Tuesday released school ratings for the 2023-2024 school year, highlighting important gains for New Mexico's schools.

Five additional schools in New Mexico are now rated as high performing, according to evaluation results, and 70% fewer schools were identified as in need of targeted, comprehensive or rigorous support.

In Los Alamos, every school has earned the highest rating:

Los Alamos High School:

Los Alamos Middle School:

Aspen Eleemntary School:

Barranca Mesa Elementary School:

Chamisa Elementary School:

Mountain Elementary School:

Pinon Elementary School:

"We are excited to celebrate the incredible work happening in our classrooms to boost student performance," Public Education Secretary-Designate Mariana Padilla said. "While there's still much to be done, it's essential to honor the progress and victories we're achieving along the way, especially considering the benchmarks for progress have become more challenging."

Schools were rated on a point system based on the following indicators:

Math, reading, and science achievement/assessment results

Growth in math and reading across time

Student attendance

Progress towards English language proficiency for students that are English learners

Post-secondary readiness*

Graduation rates*

Graduation rate growth*

*applies to high school ratings only

The school designations are:

Spotlight–Highest recognition; schools among the top 75% of schools

Traditional–Good standing; not in designation

Targeted Support & Improvement (TSI)–Schools with consistently underperforming student groups

Additional Targeted Support & Improvement (ATSI)–Schools in need of support with one or more of the lowest performing groups of students

Comprehensive Support & Improvement (CSI)–Schools scoring in the bottom 5% of Title I schools overall or that have a graduation rate below 67%

More Rigorous Interventions (MRI)–Schools not exiting CSI status after 3 years of receiving support

An analysis of 2023-2024 designations shows that 214 New Mexico schools earned the Spotlight designation, up from 209 in 2022-2023. Additionally, the number of schools in the Traditional designation grew from 381 in 2022-2023 to 546 in 2023-2024. The greatest improvements were in the three lowest designations: ATSI, CSI, and MRI. The ATSI designation decreased from 103 schools in 2022-2023 to only 5 in 2023-2024. CSI decreased from 109 schools in 2022-2023 to 43 in 2023-2024. MRI decreased from 36 schools in 2022-2023 to 26 in 2023-2024.

Schools in TSI, ATSI, CSI and MRI are identified schools in need of support. The number of schools in identification has significantly decreased (by nearly 70%) when comparing the 2022–23 (246 schools) ESSA identification cycles to those of to 2023–24 (77 schools).

A school must show significant progress to exit a support designation; however, exiting a designation does not necessarily indicate that the school is meeting proficiency standards.

The reduction in TSI, ATSI, CSI and MRI schools is due to amendments made to the state's accountability model in its 2024 ESSA plan. The PED's amended accountability model was approved by the U.S. Department of Education Oct. 18, 2024.

Two changes in the 2024 amendment are highlighted below and are the result of statewide stakeholder input from education leaders and partners:

In the state's prior ESSA plan accountability model (2019), identified schools were held in their status for three years and were not allowed to exit, even if improvements were made in subsequent years. New Mexico amended its accountability model to allow schools to exit identification annually.

The 2024 amendment also modified the way the state awarded points to schools for student growth in math and reading. Using a methodology called "student growth percentiles," points are now awarded to schools based on the change in a student's achievement (change in scale score on the test) from one year to the next. The use of student growth percentiles allows the state to award points for growth towards proficiency–vs proficiency alone.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, reauthorized as Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, requires state education agencies to develop accountability systems that meaningfully differentiate schools on an annual basis.

New Mexico Public Education Department Releases 2023

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