APS leaders say district on track for 2023 goals but attendance and proficiency lag

Board President Danielle Gonzalez and Superintendent Gabriela Duran Blakey reported progress toward goals the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education adopted in January 2023, while warning that chronic absenteeism and low proficiency in reading and math remain barriers for many students.

Gonzalez, speaking at the State of the District event, said the board’s four goals — improving grade‑3 reading for identified groups, improving math by eighth grade, increasing college‑ and career‑readiness metrics, and strengthening students’ life skills — guide district work. “We are now talking substantively about student outcomes at the board level, at the administration level, and importantly at the school level,” Gonzalez said.

Those goals reflect community priorities for Native American students, Black students, economically disadvantaged students, English learners and students with disabilities, Gonzalez said. She also described “guardrails” the board adopted to steer implementation and said the district has adopted more than two dozen monitoring reports to track progress.

Superintendent Gabriela Duran Blakey said the district has set interim targets and is reporting regularly to the board and public. “We have worked with urgency to challenge the status quo and to lay a strong foundation for lasting progress,” Blakey said. She highlighted examples of schools and programs that are showing gains: Barcelona Elementary on reading, John Adams Middle on math, Valley High School on college and career readiness, and Roosevelt Middle on social‑emotional growth.

Blakey also presented districtwide indicators that the board and community are using to measure progress. She said chronic absenteeism is improving slowly but remains high, with about 30 percent of elementary students classified as chronically absent. Proficiency levels remain low: fewer than four in 10 students were proficient in English language arts a few years ago, and about one in four students were proficient in math, Blakey said.

The superintendent credited school‑level strategies and a focus on student voice and nonacademic measures — such as belonging and safety — with recent gains. She pointed to teacher collaboration, targeted use of diagnostic tools and expanded supports as drivers of progress.

Gonzalez noted the board’s work is tied to the Martinez Yazzie case and the district’s effort to direct resources toward students identified in that litigation. She said the board asks for root‑cause analyses when results fall short and that the district is leading the state in its goal‑oriented approach.

The review Wednesday included recognition of teachers and schools that met targets and examples of targeted strategies the district plans to scale. Officials said they will continue monthly monitoring and community engagement as they pursue the four board goals.