May 27 – The state Department of Public Instruction last week unveiled an updated version of its online portal for statewide school statistics, called New Mexico Vistas.
The updated site’s data for the 2022-2023 school year has not changed, but many school designations have been shuffled, changing the level of state aid schools will receive.
Twelve public schools in Santa Fe were redesignated, with several schools moving from “traditional” status, or requiring no state intervention, to requiring some level of state aid to improve.
Why this sudden change in status?
The Public Education Department “had to revise its accountability calculations” after receiving nearly 300 calls from districts and charter schools pointing out flawed data, the department’s Division of Research, Evaluation and Accountability said in a document explaining the changes.
“The current (revised) designations for [school year] The period 2022-2023 is right,” the document says. “However, the PED recognizes that its work should be viewed as a process of continuous improvement and will continue to refine its processes in coming accountability cycles.”
For Santa Fe Public Schools, the data is another impetus to improve student outcomes, Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez wrote in a message to The New Mexican.
“We have seen positive movement, but we are not satisfied,” Chavez wrote. “Our goal is to continue to improve every year.”
School officials have long raised concerns about the accuracy of the data and designations in the Department of Public Instruction’s Vistas system.
Documents obtained by The New Mexican show that several school districts — including Santa Fe Public Schools, Rio Rancho Public Schools and Gallup-McKinley County Schools — have filed appeals, pointing to errors in the 2021-2022 proficiency data.
In an appeal to the Public Education Department, Santa Fe County Chief Assessment and Accountability Officer Beata Thorstensen wrote: “All data on math and science proficiency appears to be mixed up for ALL schools. … This seems to have had an impact on the schools as well. designations, which remove low-performing schools from our list. This is a critical issue that must be addressed immediately.”
The revised Vistas designations resulted in a dip in ratings and additional state resources for several local schools.
Originally, Amy Biehl, Aspen and Gonzales Community Schools, Ortiz Middle School and Ramirez Thomas Elementary School were categorized as “traditional” schools. Now all five are labeled for “additional targeted support and improvement,” meaning they serve one or more student subgroups performing in the bottom 5% of all public schools in the state.
El Camino Real Academy and Salazar Elementary School dropped from the additional targeted support level to “comprehensive support,” or schools in the bottom 5% of low-income schools overall.
It’s not all bad news, however. Four local schools improved their scores in the latest revision, with Santa Fe High School and Nina Otero Community School achieving “traditional” status. Desert Sage Academy has gone from a “comprehensive support school” to the second lowest “additional targeted support” sport.
The award for Most Improved School undoubtedly goes to Early College Opportunities High School, which has been awarded Spotlight status, placing it among the top 25% of schools in New Mexico for the first time. The honor comes as the school enjoys a newly built campus on Zia Road.
The revisions allowed the education department to update the New Mexico Vistas user interface. Several teachers affiliated with Teach Plus New Mexico – the local affiliate of a national teacher advocacy and leadership development organization – provided their feedback. The group urged the department to expand comparison capabilities across schools, districts and the state and improve usability across the site, Teach Plus New Mexico Executive Director Hope Morales said in a statement.
“NMVistas’ revisions will serve to facilitate a deeper understanding of school performance among families and other stakeholders, and promote collaborative efforts for statewide system improvements,” she said.
