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Monday, February 02, 2009

School Reforms Still Off-Target

By Moises Venegas
Director, Quinto Sol
           Student performance in New Mexico remains among the lowest in this country. The education establishment, with the consent of the Legislature and the governor, has been reforming education since 1969. In 2009, another reform. This one is the "Funding Formula Reform."
        What does it take to educate those 45 percent of students who are dropping out? Where should resources be placed to educate all our children? To answer those questions we first should know who is responsible for our children's education. Superintendent Winston Brooks with the Albuquerque Public Schools in December 2008 released for the first time student test scores not only by school and grade level but by classroom teacher.
        We might ask, "Who is responsible for the learning in the classroom?" Brooks' response: "Yearly test scores from the State Standards Based Assessment are simply a snapshot or status score for students in a school, a grade, a classroom or a group. Status scores are more closely correlated with characteristics of the student family and community than with the school."
        But why couldn't we use 13 snapshots for all the years in school and evaluate teaching and learning?
        Going back to 1969, the Legislature enacted a law to evaluate student achievement. The "New Mexico Model" fully implemented the law in 1972. The state superintendent at the time was proud to declare: "New Mexico has blazed the trail in statewide evaluation across the nation, and marks of this effort will be seen nationally for many, many years into the future."
        Forty years later, where are we in New Mexico? We still have the gap and a challenge in educating all of our students.
        What is the response to the educational crisis in New Mexico? As a taxpaying citizen, take a look and decide.
        The favorite of educators and reformers is to spend more money. Rep. Mimi Stewart wants $380 million more this year. But will the money come from your pocket by increasing taxes or from the state's savings accounts? What are educators going to do differently?
        We know that the last reform to improve student achievement was to increase pay for all teachers in 2003. Teachers needed more money, however their raise did not help close the achievement gap.
        The second proposal comes from Think New Mexico, which wants to create smaller schools by limiting enrollment in all new high schools to no more than 900 students. Schools labeled as "at risk" would be required to establish "smaller learning communities" by 2011.
        Smaller schools would be nice. But smaller schools have not proven to improve student achievement, either. One only needs to review the student performance at small high schools in Vaughn, Wagon Mound, Springer, Santa Rosa and Las Vegas and compare them to big high schools in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Clovis and Farmington. Big La Cueva does well, so the argument that big is not better doesn't work here.
        The newest trend in school improvement is for students to actually leave the system.
        Charter schools were created in the last eight or nine years to provide less bureaucracy and be creative and innovative. But what about student proficiency at Nuestros Valores, Camino Real or Robert F. Kennedy? A choice has been provided for the Central Avenue Corridor and South Valley, but achievement for these charters is the lowest in the district.
        I just love the creativity of the next two plans.
        The first is secession: Separate and create your own school district. The South Valley has been trying for many years. The West Side is the latest proponent, with current board member Robert Lucero leading the brigade.
        Finally, there's the "Intel Model" used in the '90s in Rio Rancho and now part of Mesa del Sol's "New Urbanism." This could also be known as Segregation 2009. This model implies that by segregating themselves from low achievement, minority and low income students, their school district will prosper. To do this you must ask the state for new school boundaries. The state and city will offer tax-increment districts, TIDDS, to pay for the segregation.
        Mesa del Sol is recruiting high paying jobs and building homes for those new residents who will have a choice for a separate school district or charter school paid for by New Mexicans. My recommendation — as an educator and researcher for the last 45 years — is to move to these locations as soon as you can.
        In 2009 in New Mexico, I say the problem is not the size of the school or district; the formula for more money; choice for charter schools; or the creation of new school districts. The problem is inadequate attention paid to educating the Mexican/Hispanic; Indian, black or poor student. Every student should be receiving a rigorous curriculum and educators should be making the same demands and have the same expectations for this student population.
        Do we have the political will in New Mexico to educate students regardless of family and community? Feliz año nuevo and forgive us for the "unpleasant truths" that exist in New Mexico education.
        Moises Venegas is executive director of Quinto Sol, a community development and research organization.
       

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