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Officials say structured‑literacy programs and high‑impact tutoring boosted summer reading gains but chronic absenteeism remains a top challenge
Summary
Public Education Department described structured literacy rollouts, a new literacy institute, and high‑impact tutoring that yielded summer gains; committee members pressed PED on chronic absenteeism and on scaling supports during the school year.
The Senate Finance Committee was told Feb. 17 that New Mexico’s structured‑literacy training and a high‑impact tutoring program produced measurable reading gains, but chronic absenteeism and persistent proficiency gaps remain major obstacles.
Mariana Padilla, secretary‑designate for the Public Education Department, summarized statewide literacy efforts and said the department is expanding structured‑literacy training, hiring literacy instructional coaches and piloting literacy model schools. She also described a state literacy institute that is in design with the University of New Mexico.
Why it matters: PED told senators these programs feed the longer‑term goal of higher proficiency and graduation rates. “We saw 5% growth in literacy over the course of summer,” Padilla said, describing a statewide pilot of high‑impact tutoring for roughly 10,000 students. She contrasted that with non‑participants who “saw a 6% decline.”
What the programs include
- Structured literacy training: PED has been training pre‑K through fifth‑grade teachers and is rolling out early adopter work in middle school. The approach is described as evidence‑based instruction “rooted in science based research regarding how the brain learns to read.”
- High‑impact tutoring and summer reading: PED funded a summer program intended as a four‑week, four‑hours‑per‑day intervention in small groups (roughly four students per instructor). Padilla reported an average 5% literacy improvement among participants.
- Literacy institute: PED is designing a literacy facility near the University of New Mexico intended to provide diagnostic assessments and interventions statewide; officials said the $30 million capital allocation remains on budget.
Attendance and chronic absenteeism
Committee discussion shifted to attendance: Senators raised chronic absenteeism rates and asked what interventions are in place during the school year. PED officials said attendance is complex and tied to family circumstances, transportation, behavioral health and engagement. “Our statewide average for chronic absenteeism is 29.7%,” Padilla said, and the department called the issue among its top five priorities.
PED described common interventions funded by the legislature: attendance coordinators, targeted outreach, community‑based supports and funding for districts and charter schools to apply for attendance programs. Officials emphasized the need for dedicated local staff and for cross‑agency coordination with CYFD and behavioral health services.
Committee members’ concerns and follow‑up requests
Senators asked for data and effectiveness measures: which interventions work best and whether available funding reaches every district. Committee members asked PED to map total state resources addressing attendance across agencies (early childhood, CYFD, behavioral health) to clarify the combined investment and responsibilities.
Ending note
Officials said literacy and tutoring interventions showed measurable short‑term gains but warned sustained improvement depends on broader issues—student attendance, staffing capacity, and ongoing funding for professional development and programming.
