Robert Nott | The New Mexican
Posted: Monday, July 09, 2012 – 7/9/12
Santa Fe Public Schools received slightly higher grades Monday when Gov. Susana Martinez released official scores under the state’s new A-F system.
Only one of the district’s schools — Wood Gormley Elementary — received an A. On the other hand, only one, Tierra Encantada Charter School at Alvord, received an F.
Nine schools received B’s, 11 received C’s, and seven received D’s on Monday. Ten of the district’s schools jumped up by at least one grade level from preliminary grades released in January, and four dropped at least one level. Monte del Sol Charter School dropped from an A to a B, while the chartered Academy for Technology and the Classics held its previous B rating.
In January, three Santa Fe schools received A’s, seven received B’s, five garnered C’s, nine got D’s, and five were rated F.
“We are obviously pleased that there are no F’s on this particular report … except the one charter [Tierra Encantada],” said the district’s interim superintendent, Tom Sullivan. “Chaparral Elementary School jumped three letter grades, which is noteworthy. The fact that 10 schools improved by at least one letter grade is impressive.”
Though the vast majority of Santa Fe schools were within a one-grade difference of their preliminary score, there were a handful of surprises this time around besides Chaparral, which jumped from an F in January to a B. Atalaya Elementary School, which netted a D in January, rated a B this time. And Ramirez Thomas Elementary School, which received an F in January, now has a C rating.
“I think it’s indicative of the work and commitment teachers put in at Ramirez Thomas,” Principal Robin Noble said of the school’s new grade. “I was hopeful we would make a good jump this year. I’m so proud of the teachers, the students and the families. It’s been a team effort, and I am glad we are beginning to see the results.”
Of the state’s 831 schools, 250 received D’s this week, 275 C’s, 198 B’s and just 39 received A’s. The remaining 69 were rated F schools. According to the Governor’s Office, 65 percent of the state’s schools either maintained or improved upon their January grade. About 125 of the state’s schools had appealed their preliminary grades earlier this year, though it remains unclear whether those appeals had any impact on the new grades.
For instance, the state-chartered New Mexico School for the Arts, based in Santa Fe, received a C in January. The school’s officials argued that the school had only been open for a year and thus did not have three years of consistent data regarding its students for the state to take into consideration. That school received an A on Monday.
The governor made Monday’s announcement at Route 66 Elementary School in Edgewood. She said the new grades are “not only important to inform parents and students today about where their school stands, but they are helpful for teachers, school leaders and community stakeholders who want to take action to reform education in New Mexico and improve our schools.”
The grades are based on a variety of measures, including reading and math proficiency scores from three years of standardized test data, student growth in reading and math, attendance, after-school opportunities and parental involvement in schools.
Martinez and Secretary of Education-designate Hanna Skandera have argued that the new system gives greater clarity to a school’s academic standing and holds school communities accountable for their grade. The A-F approach is gaining steam in other states, notably Florida (where Skandera worked as deputy director of education for two years) and, more recently, in Utah, Ohio, Oklahoma and Indiana.
But critics — both in New Mexico and other states that have adopted the plan — argue that the “how” of it all remains convoluted. Sullivan said Monday, “We are still not clear on how some of the grades are determined. There is something of a black box behind the calculations. We know the bulk of it is tied back to SBA [standardized test] results with growth as a factor, and that is what drove the improvement of a number of the [district] campuses.”
In June, members of the Legislative Education Study Committee questioned the method by which the state determines the scores. At that time, Paul Aguilar, deputy director of finance and operations for the Public Education Department, told that committee that the method is complex and that “there may only be a few people in the world” who understand the statistical model behind the grades.
Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, said Monday that he is supportive of schools being held accountable via a new system, but “the problem I have had from the beginning is that it [A-F] is too narrow of a snapshot of what schools are doing. It’s not giving a full indication of how schools are performing; it’s taken a very minimal snapshot. … The schools still have no idea where they can improve or how they can improve based on these grades.”
Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly reported that seven schools received F’s on Monday.