New Mexico’s Ongoing (and worsening?) Education Crisis

In case you missed it, the results of the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics and reading for grades 4 and 8 which is given every two years to students nationwide, were released recently. The results are not pretty for New Mexico.

According to the data sheet for Fourth Grade reading:

“the average score in New Mexico was lower than those in 43 states/jurisdictions, higher than that in 1 state/jurisdiction, not significantly different from that in 7 states/jurisdictions.” Worse, the all-important 4th grade reading score — studies show that if students don’t know how to read by 4th grade, they will continue to lag in reading-related learning areas — dropped from 212 to 208;

While eighth graders did slightly better in math and reading, New Mexico students were worse than at least 40 other states in both math and reading and typically scored better than only one or two other states. Scores tended to be equivalent to 7-8 others.

Combined with our statewide graduation rate of approximately 50% and the ineffectiveness of more spending, it would seem that policymakers should take a look at Florida where all students (especially Hispanics) are seeing rapid improvement.