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curriculum, calendars, administration and other school-related factors, research shows teachers have two to three times the impact on students’ reading and math test scores. Progress achieved since Singleton’s July 2018 ruling in the Yazzie/Martinez case has included higher salaries and more compensated professional development time through extended learning programs. But some of that progress isn’t translating to New Mexico’s most vulnerable students, despite decades-long efforts. Under former Gov. Bill Richardson, the state instituted a three-tiered licensure and evaluation system for teachers in 2003, with the goal of recruiting and retaining qualified educators—following the logic that those with more experience and who have achieved a higher licensure level should receive higher salaries. Despite the large increases in salary between the tiers, which still exist today, a 2009 Legislative Finance Committee report noted, “The differences in teacher effectiveness between licensure levels were not substantial.” The report did acknowledge that teachers with the highest licensure level outperformed their colleagues. Richardson’s successor also centered education reform around improving teacher quality, though then-Gov. Susana Martinez rankled many educators by leaning heavily on Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests to evaluate teachers. Martinez’s evaluation system represented an attempt to improve quality of
ADRIA MALCOLM
Tory Meek, a math, computer science and visual arts teacher at Walatowa High Charter School on the Jemez Pueblo, works with a student during a lesson last month.
W
hen Matt Montaño returned to New Mexico after a brief stint with the Texas Education Agency, he knew his students in Bernalillo deserved teachers who understood their experiences. “One of the biggest components of what our teachers need is to understand the cultural context, the linguistic context that our students have, so they can frame their educational experience within those contexts,” says Montaño, who is now the superintendent of the Bernalillo Public Schools system. Research confirms Montaño’s philosophy: Students who learn from teachers of the same race have better educational outcomes—especially for young people in low-income homes. To validate this reality, at the beginning of the school year Montaño lobbied his district’s school board, which serves seven nearby pueblos, to equalize pay between Native language and culture teachers and traditionally-licensed educators. Earlier this month Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 60 to equalize teacher pay statewide. State officials have made progress toward recognizing the importance of Indigenous knowledge and representation in schools. Still, many students of color in New Mexico learn in classrooms where most teachers are white. Misaligned student-teacher demographics are just one complication hampering the state’s educator workforce. 8
Recent increases to salaries have taken aim at a staggering teacher shortage. But there’s a larger gap to close for educators who work with vulnerable student groups, particularly those learning English and receiving special education services. This shortage disproportionately impacts students already facing challenges to an adequate education. Almost four years ago, the late-District Court Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that the state failed to provide English-language learners, special education students, Native youths and those from low-income families sufficient public schooling—a constitutional right—in part due to inadequate teaching. Experts say providing quality teaching has long eluded New Mexico’s most vulnerable students. Teachers historically misunderstood what English learners needed to be successful in schools, according to research conducted by Rebecca Blum Martinez, a professor emeritus of bilingual and English as a second language education at the University of New Mexico. She found English-language learners in districts around the state were incorrectly assigned to remedial reading programs, which taught students to read short sentences out loud, but did little to support reading comprehension. “What students who are English learners need is access to very rich, challenging and intellectually stimulating texts and curriculum so that they can learn how to use English in the ways that are required
MARCH MARCH16-22, 16-22,2022 2022 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM
of them by the schools—by the tests and so forth,” Blum Martinez tells SFR. For students developing a second language, she says, some teachers and administrators don’t have the knowledge to appropriately support both Indigenous and Hispanic children who are learning English. There’s little debate in the education community that good teachers are the best path to quality learning. Of all the tweaks to
What do New Mexico classrooms look like? 80 Student and teacher demographics vary drastically in the state; while the majority of educators are white, most students are Hispanic. Experts say young people need role models they identify with and teachers who have the information and skills to meet the needs of New Mexico's students.
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
64
64
48
57 PERCENTAGE
BY WILLIAM MELHADO w i l l i a m @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m
34
32 22
16
11 3
0
Native American
5 1
Asian
2
2
Black
White
Hispanic
SOURCE: NEW MEXICO PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Teacher Different
New Mexico’s long struggle to strengthen educator workforce continues, especially in high-need classrooms
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