LESC staff: early evidence that New Mexico's structured literacy is lifting scores; more funding and study recommended

LESC staff told lawmakers on the Legislative Education Study Committee on the progress and limits of New Mexico's Structured Literacy New Mexico initiative, saying early results are promising but additional years of data and targeted study are needed.

Mary Andrews, Senior Policy Analyst for LESC, said the state adopted a structured literacy approach after the 2019 passage of Senate Bill 398 (codified at Section 22'13'32 NMSA 1978). "Structured literacy is an umbrella term to describe a science'based, explicit, systematic, cumulative approach to reading and writing instruction," Andrews said, and staff focused their review on whether program design and investments produced meaningful changes in proficiency.

Staff reported that statewide proficiency on the state summative reading assessment rose from about 34% in the 2021'22 school year to about 39% in 2023'24, but stressed 2023'24 data remain preliminary pending validation. The analysis distinguishes model schools (which receive the highest supports, including an on'site coach, the Istation online curriculum component and a $50,000 implementation grant), support schools (coaches and $25,000'$40,000 grants) and general schools (which receive statewide professional learning but no extra grant support). Andrews told the committee there are 11 model schools and 67 support schools in the current year.

Tim Mado, a LESC staff presenter, described a regression model that used two prior years of proficiency and school demographics (percent economically disadvantaged, percent English learners, percent students with disabilities) to predict SY24 outcomes. The model explained roughly 80% of variation in school proficiency, he said. Mado also presented student'trajectory charts showing a pattern in many model schools: limited gains from third to fourth grade followed by substantial gains from fourth to fifth grade. "Those students could be on the trajectory to outpace their peers in general support schools," he said, noting the pattern may reflect implementation timing rather than program failure.

Staff identified three model schools that significantly outperformed their predicted proficiency (Bell Elementary in Deming; Loma Linda Elementary in Gadsden; Los Ninos Elementary in Las Vegas) and one charter (International School at Mesa del Sol) that underperformed. LESC staff recommended case studies and qualitative analysis of high'performing and underperforming schools to isolate practices and implementation choices that drive results.

The presentation also examined potential causes for a decline in third'grade proficiency in 2023'24, including the lingering effects of pandemic-era kindergarten and early'grade disruptions and the short-term implementation burden of transitioning to new curricula and teaching practices.

Based on their findings, staff urged the legislature to consider continuing annual funding through the State Equalization Guarantee (SEG) for structured literacy supports, sustain LETRS professional learning for new teachers, continue funding for model and support school coaches, and evaluate programmatic impacts over additional years of implementation. "Additional years of implementation and associated outcome data will be important to understand whether these changes continue to play out over time," Andrews said.

Public comment at the meeting reinforced the staff emphasis on curriculum and representation, with one commenter, Eliza, saying students need to "see themselves" in reading materials to develop interest in reading.

Next steps: LESC staff said they will perform case studies of schools that beat the model and continue digging into implementation specifics to inform future policy recommendations.