Underserved APS students hit district early literacy goals but regressed from prior year

Some elementary-aged Albuquerque Public Schools students identified as underserved by a landmark court ruling have exceeded literacy goals set for them the previous school year, but showed a backslide from the 2023-24 school year.

Data presented to the Board of Education on Wednesday — just around 12 hours before students returned to classrooms — showed that first and second grade students surpassed their literacy proficiency goals for the second year in a row, with rates at roughly 23% and 26%, respectively. The interim goals set for the previous school year were 21.3% for second graders and 20% for first graders.

However, during the 2023-24 school year, the identified first graders monitored read at a 24.1% proficiency rate at the end of the year — nearly an entire percentage point higher than the 2024-25 school year— and second graders read at a 26.3% proficiency rate — 0.7 of a percentage point higher than the last year.

The groups monitored reflect underserved students as defined by the Yazzie-Martinez case, in which Wilhelmina Yazzie, the parent of a Native student at Gallup-McKinley County Schools, and Louise Martinez, the parent of a Hispanic student at APS, successfully sued the state for providing an inadequate education.

The state’s Public Education Department defines English language learners, economically disadvantaged students, Native American students and students with a disability as Yazzie-Martinez students. The APS report also accounts for Black students and reflects end-of-year assessments.

Little discussion about the backslide took place during the board’s meeting; however, concern over student attendance was mentioned. According to the presentation and meeting agenda materials attached, toward the end of the school year, around 31% of first grade students were chronically absent.

“If our students aren’t in school, they can’t learn, and our first graders don’t have any control over this,” board member Heather Benavidez said.

The district has struggled with chronic absenteeism for a while now, and in an interview ahead of the school year, Superintendent Gabriella Blakey told the Journal it was the most prevalent issue the district is facing.