SUBSCRIBE |   | Why we charge
about Albuquerque, New Mexico     Contact Us
  
 

 
 
Home   News   Schools   Sports   Biz   Opinion   Health   Scitech  Arts   Dining   Movies   Outdoors   Weather   Archives Enhanced Classifieds NM Jobs Cars Real Estate  
  



 

Story Tools
 E-mail Story
 Print Friendly

Save & Share
 ‡  Tag this Page

Most Requested


Most E-mailed

Who's Blogging?
Read what's being written about Albuquerque Journal reports.
Shekinah Mercantile & Yizreel's Garden links to NEWS: Balloon Crash Kills One, Critically Injures Another
New Mexico Politics: New Mexico FBIHOP links to UPFRONT: When Officers Go Too Far
Cocoposts links to NEWS/METRO: Ex-Metro Court Official Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Wake up America links to NEWS: Balloon Crash Kills One, Critically Injures Another
New Mexico Independent links to NORTH: State Funds Lose Billions
New Mexico Politics: New Mexico FBIHOP links to OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: 'Officers Go Too Far' Column Didn't Go Far Enough To Get Truth
On Deadline - USATODAY.com links to NEWS: Balloon Crash Kills One, Critically Injures Another
New Mexico Politics: New Mexico FBIHOP links to ABQnews item
Reporting from a new generation of journalists. — Election 2008: What's At Stake? links to ELEX: Journal Poll: Race for District 1 Seat Tight
New Mexico Independent links to NEWS/METRO: Charges Against Brennan Tossed

Full list and what they're blogging




Guest Opinions
Read All About It: Libraries Need Bonds

McCain Couldn't Get Care on His Plan

Under Brandenburg, Sweet Pleas Rule

DA's Genuine Record: Tough Prosecution

McCain Has Better Prescription for Health Care

'Officers Go Too Far' Column Didn't Go Far Enough To Get Truth

Doña Ana South Valley Could Swing State for Obama

Industry Pumps Up Oil Conservation Criticism

It's Time To Dispel Conquistador Myth

A New Mexico Educator's Work on the Arabian Peninsula Reveals an Ancient World Full of Beauty, Friendship and Growing Optimism


More Guest Opinions


          Front Page  opinion  guest_columns


Friday, August 08, 2008

N.M. Schools Are Making Real Progress

By Veronica C. GarcíA
Secretary, Public Education Department
      While headlines over the articles reporting public school test scores scream about failure, the truth is we are seeing more and more success.
       We have higher statewide achievement scores than we've had in the last four years. For example, the percentage of eighth-grade students proficient in math increased during the past four years by more than 12 percent among Hispanics, by 15 percent among Native Americans and by 22 percent for economically disadvantaged students.
       Yet, according to the federal government, we have more failing schools. This is the paradox of AYP — adequate yearly progress.
       Accountability for the education of our children is necessary, and New Mexico has been nationally recognized as one of the top 16 states for strong accountability, high standards and good assessments. We are seeing progress and results.
       It's unfortunate that the federal system is so flawed that it misleads the public about the quality of our schools, teachers, administrators and students. Their hard work is being overshadowed by flashy headlines.
       For example, all Albuquerque public high schools increased the number of students proficient in reading by an average of 3 percent last year. Rio Grande High School didn't make AYP but topped the list posting an increase of 24 percent. That's incredible progress that deserves recognition.
       For years, we looked to Los Alamos and La Cueva High Schools as exceptional schools making progress with high numbers of students proficient in math and reading. However, both schools missed AYP this year.
       That may have you believing that the schools crashed and burned. Not true. Both schools are still exceptional, making progress with high numbers of students proficient in math and reading. They just didn't increase the number as much as needed to stay on track to meet the 100 percent student proficiency goal by 2014 for one sub-group of students.
       Keep in mind that 40 percent of the schools in New Mexico that missed AYP missed by only one to three indicators. Some schools missed only one of the 37 indicators by only one-tenth of 1 percent.
       It is critical that parents, community members, and state and business leaders look at the achievement data for each individual school, ask about improvement strategies, ask for data on progress, focus on short-cycle assessments to track student performance throughout the year and focus on individual student proficiency. AYP does not track the academic progress of individual students from one grade to the next. Since AYP is not a comprehensive tool that measures growth, using the same snapshot score at the classroom level to judge the effectiveness of a teacher would be grossly unfair.
       Parents, please do not be discouraged by your school's AYP rating without doing the research. We are moving forward and we still have a long way to go. Let's continue to rally around our schools and students and keep the positive momentum.
       
Albuquerque Journal Subscriber Services
Submit a news tip | Place a classified ad | Advertise Online at ABQjournal | Advertise in Albuquerque Journal print products | Subscribe to newspaper
Save & Share Tag this Page | ...go to bookmarks
back to top