'Data has a story to tell': What does this state report say about APS?

Albuquerque Public Schools attendance rates plummeted, reading and math proficiencies slightly dipped, and the four-year graduation rate continued to stall, according to a state report examining the last school year.

The New Mexico Vistas Report Card, a yearly report that examines academic outcomes and graduation rates, showed APS saw a 2.9% decrease in graduation growth, a 2% decline in math, a 1% drop in reading proficiency and a 13% drop in regular attendance.

The report card, printed at length in the Thursday Journal, shows APS — the largest district in a state ranked last in the country by U.S. News for education — lagged behind New Mexico averages by most metrics.

“Data is important. Data has a story to tell, and we need to listen,” Antonio Gonzales, APS deputy superintendent of leadership and learning, told the Journal on Wednesday.

The significant drop in attendance appears to be the primary statistic that differs most from the state’s average. According to the report card, 66% of New Mexico students attended school 90% of the time or more, compared with 50% of APS students.

“Ever since the pandemic, our whole culture thinks school is optional because obviously, and controversially, we sent the kids home,” Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein told the Journal. “Now our whole culture thinks coming to school is optional. We’ve got to switch that narrative.”

Among students who were absent, the most were those experiencing homelessness and those classified as economically disadvantaged.

“When students are not attending, it’s both a signal of other issues that may not have anything to do with the school and also something that’s going to make it harder for them to graduate,” Douglas Harris, Tulane University professor and department chair of economics and Schlieder Foundation chair in public education told the Journal.

The graduation growth rate — a metric that tracks a cohort of students from their freshman year to graduation — showed a 2.9% decline in four-year graduation growth for APS in 2024.

“Theoretically, in a perfect world, all of those kids would graduate in four years from start to end,” Gonzales said. But he added that the algorithm to calculate those rates can yield differing results.

“Mobility comes into play, so APS may get credit for a freshman that stays with us from one year, but then goes to Tucumcari sophomore year through senior year,” Gonzales said. “It’s very hard to measure and keep track of.”

Among the high schools with the highest percentage drop in graduation rates are Eldorado with 6.3%, La Cueva with 7%, Valley with 7.2% and Manzano with 7.8%.

“I think, what the community is charging us, as a district, to do is make sure that we are graduating every single one of our students at 100% ready for college and career. And if we’re not doing that, we need to be held to account to really support each kid,” Gonzales said.

He said that a positive that the report card shows is 35 APS schools are classified as “spotlight” schools, which is defined by the report as the highest recognition a school can receive.

Of those spotlight schools, nearly 70% were in the city’s northeast or northwest side — historically more affluent areas.

Gonzales added that he believes the “goals and guardrails” the district’s school board adopted in 2023 to increase literacy at an early age, increase math proficiency and focus on postsecondary readiness will help that number increase district-wide.

The 2023-24 Vistas report card found that 23% of students were proficient in math, 39% in reading and 38% in science — a 3% increase from the previous year’s report.

“I believe that there’s real promise in these goals. I believe there’s real promise and accountability, but we need help,” Gonzales said. “Help in making sure that our students are in school every single day.”