(Albuquerque, NM, Friday, December 14, 2018) – Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, states have a responsibility to create systems to meaningfully address underperforming schools to provide all students a strong, equitable education. New Mexico’s school improvement plan was chosen to be reviewed as part of a new report from the Collaborative for Student Success and HCM Strategists, showing the results of an independent peer review analysis of current school improvement efforts across the country.
The report, “Check State Plans: From Promise to Practice,” highlights best practices being used in states to improve the lowest-performing schools, as well as ways states could better support student achievement. This includes whether districts and schools are using evidence-based strategies that meet school needs, and whether they are taking full advantage of federal and state funding.
New Mexico received positive results overall, earning a “Strong” rating in 4 out of 8 categories: vision; funding; capacity building and autonomy; and continuous improvement and monitoring, and an “Adequate” rating in all other categories.
The panel of experts believe that New Mexico is using a “State Leadership Approach,” where the state plays a significant role in holding districts and schools accountable. The state also does a good job of ensuring that districts are submitting applications that have a strong focus on evidence-based interventions and are aligned with the district’s proposed theory of action for intervention and implementation. These strengths will make it more likely that districts and schools will make sustained, long-term improvement.
Strengths: New Mexico has strong alignment with the stated requirements for schools targeted for improvement. New Mexico also ensures that districts are submitting applications that have a strong focus on evidence-based interventions and that interventions are aligned with the district’s proposed theory of action for improvement. In addition, the state holds high expectations for districts and schools and maintained their commitment to the competitive application process and rigorous review process by working them during the process to strengthen their improvement plans, and only approving plans that meet the standards.
Where the Plan Can Improve: New Mexico outlines a clear theory of action in their ESSA plan, but that vision for school improvement is buried within the school improvement materials—rather than guiding efforts. Pulling out the vision and theory of action would help stakeholders ground their work in clear goals. It’s also important for New Mexico to ensure that the school and district leaders engage the parents and community members in the development of, not just the implementation, of the improvement plans.