New Mexico Achievement Gap Research Alliance, REL Southwest
This alliance seeks to identify obstacles to success and reduce achievement gaps among Hispanic and Native American students. The alliance also seeks to address the needs of underachieving schools and to increase students' college and career readiness, access, and completion throughout the state. Alliance members include staff from district, regional, state, university, and nonprofit groups.
Work in Progress: Assessing the Role of Noncognitive and School Environmental Factors in New Mexico Students' Transition to High School
Work in Progress: New Mexico Achievement Gap Course-Taking Patterns Study
Work in Progress: Descriptive Study of New Mexico's New High School Graduation Assessment and Course Requirements
Work in Progress: Understanding Connections Between English and Spanish Proficiency for English Learner Students in New Mexico
Bridge Event: Professional Learning Community Resources for Supporting English Learners, December 7, 2016
Bridge Event: Webinar on Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School, November 10, 2014
Bridge Event: Conference on Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School, July 22, 2014
Bridge Event: Using Research to Address Achievement Gaps, April 25, 2014
Other Alliance Work:
Workshop: Understanding Logic Models III: Technical Assistance in Developing Logic Models for Specific Programs, November 20, 2014
Workshop: Increasing Family Engagement of Native Americans and Hispanics: Sharing Successful Strategies, November 19, 2014
Workshop: Understanding Logic Models II: Using Logic Models to Evaluate Programs and Develop Researchable Hypotheses, October 1, 2014
Workshop: Understanding Logic Models I, July 17, 2014
Workshop: Planning for a Survey, March 25, 2014
Workshop: Framing Your Research Agenda Using a Research Continuum, October 24, 2013
Research Questions:
- Data Availability and Use
- What extant data relevant to achievement gaps in New Mexico are available at the federal, state, and local levels to help the New Mexico Achievement Gap Research Alliance members focus their research agenda and inform their study designs? And what are the gaps in the existing data?
- To what extent do Native American tribes in New Mexico have access to the data they need to improve education instruction in their schools?
- Noncognitive Factors and Student Transitions
- How do New Mexico students perform on measures of noncognitive factors?
- How supportive do New Mexico students perceive their high school environments to be?
- Are there relationships between students' noncognitive skills, school environments, and successful grade 9 transitions? Do these relationships vary by race/ethnicity?
- English Learners
- What percentage of English learners (ELs) who enter kindergarten with various Spanish proficiency categories (nonproficient, limited proficient, and fluent proficient) become English proficient by grades 4 and 5?
- What do the growth trajectories of ELs participating in bilingual English/Spanish program models in grades K through 3 look like regarding English proficiency? Spanish proficiency?
- What is the relationship between EL performance on the New Mexico state assessments in reading and math in grades 4 and 5 and English proficiency? Spanish proficiency?
- College & Career Readiness (Dropout and Graduation)
- How large is the achievement gap between Hispanic, Native American, and White students in New Mexico? Do these achievement gaps vary by school urbanicity? Do these achievement gaps vary by gender?
- What school-level factors are associated with lower grade 9 dropout rates for students in New Mexico? Do these factors differ by racial/ethnic composition of the school?
- Is there a relationship between implementation of the new graduation requirements in New Mexico and the following:
- Number of students graduating with certificates instead of diplomas?
- High School dropout rates?
- High education enrollment?
- Are there differences in the course-taking patterns of Hispanic, Native American, and White high school students in New Mexico?
- Are there differences in the proportions of students completing honors, International Baccalaureate (IB), and/or Advanced Placement (AP) courses by race/ethnicity?
Geographical Areas Served:
New Mexico
Member Organizations:
- Bureau of Indian Education
- Cooperative Educational Services
- Cuba Independent School District
- Deming Public Schools
- Dual Language Education of New Mexico
- High Plains Regional Education Cooperative #3
- Las Cruces Public Schools
- Native Solutions in Education
- New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education
- New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders
- New Mexico Highlands University
- New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee
- New Mexico Public Education Department
- New Mexico State University
- Northeast Regional Education Cooperative #4
- Northern New Mexico College
- Ruidoso Municipal Schools
- Santa Fe Indian School
- South Central Collaborative for Equity, Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA)
- University of New Mexico
Contact Information:
Carmen Martinez, M.S., Alliance Liaison
cmartinez@air.org
(650) 843-8100
External Website
http://relsouthwest.sedl.org/research-alliances/new_mexico_achievement_gap.html