New report: Indigenous students at APS struggling

The academic performance of Native American students in the Albuquerque Public Schools is lagging behind their peers, a new study four years in the making shows.

New Mexico boasts one of the largest Indigenous populations in the country, and Albuquerque has an estimated 30,000 Native residents. APS serves more than 3,000 Indigenous students, making up around 5% of its students.

During the 2023-24 school year, Indigenous students displayed proficiency rates of approximately 23% in reading, 22% in science and 12% in math, according to the report, a collaboration between the New Mexico nonprofit One Generation Fund and APS.

The district averages in those subjects showed proficiency ratings of 39% in reading, 38% in science and 24% in math.

College readiness was also an issue. According to the study, around 36% of students in the district performed well on the reading and writing portion of the SAT, but only 23% of Indigenous students scored well on the test. Additionally, 12% of students in APS performed well on the math portion of the SAT, while around 4% of Native students scored well.

“Something that APS is very much acknowledging is, and why we’re doing these changes is, this is not new. This data, if you looked at the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, dropout rates for Native Americans, is not new,” Tanya Campos, director of APS’ Office of Equity and Engagement, who is from the Isleta Pueblo, told the Journal in an interview Tuesday. “That is something we are very open and honest (about) and saying, ‘We can’t continue to do what the educational system has been doing for decades.’”

Campos said those changes include “college and career readiness, clubs, mentorships, experiential learning and high-quality curriculum.”

The report also showed Indigenous students dropped out of APS schools at a higher rate than any other demographic of students for the fourth consecutive year, though the 6% dropout rate in 2024 showed an improvement from the previous year, when 8.5% of Indigenous students dropped out.

Among the major district high schools with the highest Indigenous student dropout rates in the 2023-24 school year were Highland at 8%, Rio Grande with 7.7% and West Mesa at 5.6%. When it comes to attendance, 42.5% of Indigenous students were chronically absent for the 2023-24 school year, while the district average was close to 31%.

“The way we engage and support our Native students at these schools is just that specific. We do not pretend to have a general way in which we work with our Native population,” said Antonio Gonzales, APS deputy superintendent of leadership and learning.

He added that these schools have Early Warning Systems, a program that rallies teachers, administrators and health professionals to help “high-risk students,” according to APS’ website.

Native students made up a sliver of Advanced Placement courses — with less than 10 students enrolled in AP biology, chemistry and computer science each school year from 2020-21 to 2022-23.

To increase enrollment in Advanced Placement courses, Lashawna Tso, director of community partnerships and government relations for the One Generation Fund, told the Journal she would like to see more Indigenous students get referrals to gifted programs. White and Hispanic students made up a majority of students enrolled in those programs during the 2022-23 school year.

She also believes that providing Indigenous students support and increasing cultural awareness on campuses can improve student outcomes. A survey cited in the report found that just over 30% of Indigenous students felt they mattered to others at their schools. Additionally, Native students reported they felt lower rates of perseverance, self-efficacy and social awareness than their peers of other demographics.

The report issued seven recommendations, some of which included increasing the number of Native teachers, increasing equity for Native students and increasing interaction between the district and Native communities.

“We’ve been working in the spirit of tribal consultation for a long time at APS. We’ve been working with community partners for a long time at APS,” Gonzales said. “There’s a lot of recommendations in this report, so we need to work with our partners to be strategic in terms of what is coming out of the gate first (and) where’s the largest impact initially versus more long-term work that needs to be done.”