Albuquerque Public Schools board touts progress in early literacy rates

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education on Wednesday touted improvements in underserved students’ early literacy rates.

The Journal obtained the data and report which have not been made available to the public — something that would typically be made available before the board meeting.

The report shows that last school year, third-graders in APS identified in the Yazzie-Martinez group displayed 32% proficiency in reading, almost 2 percentage points higher than the set target.

“The preliminary data — if anybody from the newspaper is in the room — is really good for our goal, but we are really excited about what we’re seeing in growth,” Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said during the board meeting Wednesday. “The preliminary data is showing that our teachers are working really hard, our principals are working hard.”

The proficiency rate also jumped over 6 percentage points higher than in the 2023-24 school year, when students in that same group read at a 25.3% proficiency rate — 3 percentage points below the target set for them that school year.

“A 6.4% increase in a year. That’s incredible,” Board Vice President Courtney Jackson said.

Yazzie-Martinez students are classified as those who are Native American, English Language Learners, come from low-income households or have special needs. The name and classification come from the 2018 landmark ruling that found New Mexico’s education department was violating students’ constitutional rights with the quality of instruction it provided. APS also tracks Black students progress alongside the state’s defined Yazzie-Martinez population.

However, district leadership presented the report to the board without publicizing the data. When the routine monitoring reports are presented, data is often made public on the board’s website when meeting agendas are published.

That was not the case ahead of Wednesday’s meeting. APS explained that the state’s Public Education Department has not yet made the data used in the report public.

PED did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

According to APS leadership, the data is considered preliminary since PED has not finalized it and released it publicly. Additionally, a math proficiency report that the board was supposed to receive had to be moved to another meeting date because that data from the state is also not ready.

According to Randy Mahlerwein, APS deputy superintendent for leadership and learning, the data will likely be available Friday. The board voted unanimously to approve the report.

The target for this current school year is to have just over 31% of third grade APS Yazzie-Martinez students reading proficiently.