Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Logan and San Jon school districts showed higher proficiency rates in mathematics and reading compared to state averages according to spring data released Friday by the New Mexico Department of Public Education.
The Tucumcari and House districts in Quay County hovered near the state averages.
According to the education agency, 32.7% of New Mexico pupils were deemed “proficient” in English skills. Those students had shown a steady increase in proficiency in each of the last three years, from a 27.6% rate in 2016.
This spring, 20.3% of New Mexico students were proficient in math. That dropped from the 21.6% rate the previous year but remained near the 19.9% rate in 2016.
In the Tucumcari school district this spring, 35% of its students were deemed proficient in English and 17-18% in math. Several of the reported percentages for school districts in Quay County showed a range instead of a firm number.
Tucumcari’s elementary students showed a proficiency rate of 18% in math and 25% in English. Those numbers rose to 22% proficiency in math and 42% in English by middle school. The rates in the high school were 12-16% in math and 37-41% in English.
Attempts to reach Tucumcari superintendent Aaron McKinney by phone and email for comment were unsuccessful before deadline.
Logan saw a 26% proficiency rate in math and 48% in English districtwide.
Logan elementary students scored 46-53% proficient in math and 50-58% in English. The middle school saw rates of 25-29% in math and 36-43% in English. In the high school, Logan students were 19-24% proficient in math and 65-73% proficient in English.
Dennis Roch, superintendent at Logan schools, stated in an email he was pleased the district’s students surpassed the state average.
“Even better, nearly every incoming senior at Logan High School has already passed the state's graduation assessments, and we are well on our way toward a 100% graduation rate,” he wrote.
For the San Jon school district, its students scored a 45-49% proficiency rate in math and 50-54% in English.
The elementary school saw rates of 40-49% in math and English. Middle-school students scored 60-69% proficient in math and English. In high school, San Jon students were 50-59% proficient in math and 61-78% proficient in English.
“The teachers have been asked to reflect on last year's assessment scores and to create a goal for this year's students,” San Jon superintendent Janet Gladu stated in an email. “San Jon is fortunate to have a very supportive community, board of education, families/parents and stakeholders. Due to the size of San Jon, we are able to individualize education for all students, thus allowing them to reach their personal goals and dreams.”
At House Municipal Schools, its students were 21-29% proficient in math and 31-48% proficient in English. No data was reported for elementary and junior-high students because the number of children there was too low. At House High School, the math proficiency rate was just under 20%, while the English rate was 30-39%.
An email to House superintendent Bonnie Lightfoot wasn’t answered by deadline.
The state’s standards-based Transition Assessment of Math and English Language Arts was given in the spring several months after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s executive order to move away from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test.
The state’s education agency stated in a news release Friday the spring test reduced testing time by 30 percent while logging results comparable to the previous year’s assessment.
The state’s education agency and Student Success Task Force is slated to submit a full assessment plan to the governor by fall. Spring 2020 math and English assessments at the elementary level “will use the same blueprint as spring 2019, with the addition of custom-developed field test items,” the agency stated.
The governor fired Education Secretary Karen Trujillo a few days before proficiency rates were announced. Lujan Grisham stated Trujillo was removed because the governor’s expectations for education weren’t being met in several areas.