ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – On Wednesday, Albuquerque Public Schools hosted their first-ever State of the District, hoping to shed light on how they can improve student outcomes.
“Thirty-eight percent of our 3rd graders are proficient in reading, 26% of our 8th graders are proficient in Math, and only 72% of our seniors are graduating on time,” said APS superintendent, Gabriella Blakey.
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It’s no secret that Albuquerque Public Schools needs to make a change something Blakey admits hasn’t been easy to do. “Generally, shying away from big changes out of fear that it might ruffle feathers and the fact is business as usual is not working for us we have to reject the status quo and embrace a culture of accountability,” said Blakey.
While Blakey didn’t dive into what exactly the big changes she’s hoping to tackle during today’s address there are some goals she says they are looking towards. “Improving reading and math proficiency rates, preparing our students for life after graduation,” said Blakey.
Blakey said some changes have already started like school partnerships and creating units of study for each grade level. “We committed to getting every elementary school teacher and principal trained in letters, which is a professional development program that has shown promising results in boosting literacy scores,” said Blakey.
Blakey says a big part of succeeding is attendance. Last year, nearly 31% of students were chronically absent. “We have to engage our students by figuring out what it is that excites them to be in school and using them to get excited about learning our fine arts expansion we completed this year is a great example of that,” said Blakey.
Blakey says nothing is set in stone. “I can’t guarantee that every one of these changes will have the impact that we expect but what I can promise you that we will monitor the results we’re getting and we will change course if we find that the investments are paying dividends,” said Blakey.
APS has also implemented a new system that will give help and resources to schools that need it, while schools that are doing well will have more freedom to implement new strategies as they see fit.
