APS officials say district is off track on grades 6–12 social-emotional goals; propose principal advisory councils and counseling pipeline

Acting district leadership told the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education on May 6 that the district is off track on interim goal 4.2, which measures students’ skills, habits and mindsets in grades 6–12, and presented a plan to address the decline.

"As you saw in the report, we are off track on this goal," the presenter said, summarizing a root-cause analysis that pointed to belonging, academic stress and the so-called hidden curriculum (executive-functioning skills) as drivers of the decline. Administrators said students told the district they want more explicit support for navigating school, stronger access to counseling and clearer evidence that their voices lead to visible change.

Administrators described strategies already in place or planned: expanding counseling access and a residency program to build the counselor pipeline in partnership with the Albuquerque Teacher Federation and the University of New Mexico; rolling out culture-of-care professional development (including anti-racism components) and site-specific inclusive-practice training; and strengthening principal advisory councils to create monthly visible-change actions—small, demonstrable steps that show students their feedback produced results.

Deputy and associate superintendents described a two-pronged root-cause review (vendor Panorama data and in-district protocol work) and summarized themes from principal advisory council visits: relationship and belonging drive engagement; academic stress and workload amplify in spring; and students want relevance and interactivity in instruction. Administrators gave examples where small, visible changes—such as adding a basketball net—led to greater student trust in advisory councils.

Board members asked several follow-up questions: how budget pressures and enrollment declines will affect scaling interventions; how the district is ensuring consistent inclusive-practice definitions across sites and compliance with IEP placement; and when trustees would receive disaggregated performance data for Martinez-Yazzie student groups. Administration noted a district dashboard tab with results by student group and committed to send requested counselor data promptly.

Public commenters earlier in the meeting had tied the progress-monitoring discussion to program cuts, urging protection of physical education and other student-facing services. A student, Wilder Griner, testified that PE helps kids ‘‘get off their screens’’ and urged the board not to cut PE. Several PE teachers described developmental and social benefits they connect to regular physical education.

Administrators said the work will continue through site teams, assistant superintendents and principal supervisors; they also flagged improvements in some supplemental measures (a decreased gap for students with IEPs in some analyses) and pointed to program alignment efforts—including a planned middle-school redesign and freshman academies—to improve student outcomes.

The board moved from the progress-monitoring discussion into subsequent agenda items but directed staff to share specific data and continue implementing and monitoring the strategies presented.