APS reports drops in eighth grade math, improvement in sixth and seventh grades

Math proficiency among eight graders at Albuquerque Public Schools has fallen slightly, according to last year’s state assessment, and for eighth grade students identified in the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit, progress dropped more.

In order to meet its goals for sixth and seventh graders, the district will need to make significant progress in math proficiency scores by the end of the year.

Based on assessment data from the 2024-25 school year, 19.2% of all eighth graders were proficient in math, down from 19.5% the year before.

Among Native American and Black students, students with disabilities and other students identified in the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit, math proficiency slipped from 12.8% in the 2023-24 school year to 10.8% on the last assessment.

The 2019 Yazzie-Martinez decision ruled that the state of New Mexico has a constitutional obligation to provide every student with an equal opportunity and a sufficient education, especially Native American students, English language learners, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students — all of whom make up around 70% of New Mexico’s student population, according to the Public Education Department.

Black students saw massive gains in math proficiency when scored individually. The rate of proficiency for Black eighth graders went from 7.8% in 2024 to 17.3% last year, a growth rate of 122%.

Native American students also recorded gains: Native eighth graders at APS scored a math proficiency rate of 11.9% last year, up from 8.1% the year before.

Disabled students and English language learners reported some of the lowest scores. Disabled students increased their math proficiency by 0.6 percentage points for a total score of 3.8%, while English language learners increased theirs by 1.8 points for a score of 4.3%.

Losses appeared among students who received free or reduced meals. Math proficiency for these students dropped 2.1 percentage points for a proficiency rate of 10.5%.

Hispanic eighth graders’ scores rose half a percentage point for a total proficiency score of 12.4%, while white and Asian students saw drops of 6.6 and 3 percentage points for total scores of 42.3% and 42.5%, respectively.

The district’s goal is a proficiency score of 21.1% among Yazzie-Martinez and Black eighth graders by May 2028. The score will have to increase by more than 10 percentage points in the next two years for APS to meet its benchmark.

Among all sixth graders, math scores went up by one percentage point from this time last year for a proficiency rate of 24.6% in the middle of this school year. Yazzie-Martinez and Black sixth graders scored just over 1 percentage point higher than last year for a total score of 16.2%.

To meet its goal of 22.6% math proficiency among Yazzie-Martinez and Black students in the sixth grade, APS must increase their scores by 6.4 percentage points by May.

APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said Wednesday she still thought it was possible for the district to meet its goal using a set of strategies for improvement decided upon by APS officials, which include professional development for teachers.

“It is a very big jump … to get to the end of the year at the goal that we're reaching for. But we do feel like the strategies are implemented in a way throughout the year that we will be able to make it,” Blakey said.

Seventh grade math proficiency went unchanged from this time last year, for a total score of 20.9%. Of Yazzie-Martinez and Black seventh graders, 14.2% scored proficient in math compared with 55.5% of all other seventh graders.

APS must raise the scores of Yazzie-Martinez and Black seventh graders to 19% by the end of the year to meet its goal.

Some middle schools have made significant individual progress in math proficiency, including Desert Willow Family School, an alternative K-8 magnet school in APS. Desert Willow reported improvements of 55.6 percentage points in sixth grade math and 30.7 percentage points in seventh grade math, a sign that quick and substantial gains may still be possible, Blakey said.

“We do think that we can make significant gains, because we've seen some of the schools be able to do it, and we can leverage those strategies,” she said.

School board member Rebecca Betzen said she was doubtful schools would be able to make meaningful gains in math in the back half of the year.

“I don’t know that we can ask teachers to do any more than we’re already asking of them,” Betzen said.

Senate Bill 29, signed into law last week by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, is an attempt to bolster math instruction statewide by requiring the Public Education Department to develop statewide standards for teaching the subject in conjunction with the New Mexico Mathematics and Science Advisory Council.

The bill also mandates additional undergraduate coursework on math pedagogy for prospective teachers, and requires teachers to conduct regular math assessments from kindergarten through third grade.

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.