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In this issue:
 • Educate New Mexico Receives Grants
 • National Charter Schools Week
 • NM High School Grads Face Challenges

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Recent Grants
Educate New Mexico recently received grants from the Daniels Fund ($125,000) and Intel Corporation ($5,000).

The Daniels Fund grant — coupled with other recent donations — will allow Educate New Mexico to provide school choice to 450 students during the 2006–2007 school year, an increase of 5% over the current number of scholarships. These students will attend nearly 100 independent and parochial schools across the state.

The Daniels Fund operates the Daniels Scholarship Program and the Daniels Grants Program in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The fund was established in 1997 by Bill Daniels, a pioneer in cable television known for his kindness and generosity to those in need. Visit www.danielsfund.org for more information.

The Intel Corporation grant will be used specifically to provide math tutors for several elementary students in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties during the 2006–2007 school year.

Intel has a long tradition of being an asset in the community. Grants such as this, as well as Intel Involved volunteers serving at dozens of community-based organizations, are just two examples of how Intel puts their corporate values into practice. Intel actively supports K–12 science, math, engineering, and technology curriculum development.

Visit www.intel.com/community/NewMexico for more information.

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National Charter Schools Week
The 7th Annual National Charter Schools Week begins Monday, May 1st. Much is in store for the 3,600-plus charters, from state conferences, to national celebrations, to the Education Department's National Charter Schools Program Showcase, where some of the nation's top reformers will converge to offer their views. For more information on New Mexico’s Charter Schools, visit nmccs.org

(Source: Center for Education Reform Newswire, Vol. 8, No. 19 — April 25, 2006)

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Grads Can't Handle College; N.M. Study Shows 49% Need Remedial Courses

by Gabriela C. Guzman
Journal Capital Bureau
Tuesday, April 18, 2006

SANTA FE — Almost half of all New Mexico high school graduates took remedial classes once they entered a state college or university, according to a new state study.
The study tracked 35,654 graduates from 114 public high schools 2000 to 2004 who went on to attend a state college or university.
Forty-nine percent of those students took a remedial class in literacy or math, according to the study, "Ready for College?" prepared by the state Department of Finance and Administration.
"This is a national challenge. There is a great deal of concern across the country that too many high school graduates are not prepared for college," said Peter Winograd, director of DFA's Office of Education Accountability.
"As you all know, that challenge is particularly difficult in New Mexico," said Winograd, one of the study's main authors.
Nationally, about 40 percent of college students take a remedial course, according to federal education sources.
Of the 10,542 students who graduated from a public high school in Albuquerque, 44.1 percent took a remedial class in either math or reading.

In Santa Fe, close to 60 percent of the 1,187 graduates took a remedial class in those subjects.
While American Indian students only represented 7 percent of all the students within the study, they represented the highest percentage of students taking remedial classes — 66 percent.
Fifty-eight percent of Hispanics took a remedial class; they made up 45 percent of the study's participants.
Thirty-six percent of the Anglo students took a remedial class; they made up 39 percent of the participants.
Navajo Pine High School in Navajo graduated the highest percentage of students who went on to take remedial classes upon entering college — 82.8 percent.
In Albuquerque, La Cueva High had the lowest percent taking remedial classes at 25.4 percent. Rio Grande High had the highest percent taking remedial courses at 67.2 percent.
Rio Rancho High School graduated 1,354 students — the highest number in the state — during the study's four-year span. Of those students, 39.7 percent required remedial classes when they went onto a state college or university.
Being above the national average for remedial classes at the college level is "unacceptable," said Veronica Garcia, the New Mexico Public Education Secretary.
Yet, the information is not surprising, she said. For years, public education officials have heard anecdotal comments from higher education officials and members of the business community that New Mexico's students are not academically prepared.
In 2005, 25 percent of freshmen at the University of New Mexico were eligible to take a remedial English class. Thirty-three percent were eligible for a remedial math class, according to UNM.
Overall, 41 percent of all graduates in the study took a remedial math class, according to the new study.
"It will help guide our work so the Public Education Department and our school districts can better address this problem," Garcia said of the study.
More teacher training, aligning academic standards in high school with college entrance requirements and making high school classes more meaningful are already occurring, Garcia said.
New Mexico's higher education secretary, Beverlee McClure, said efforts are under way to make the transition from high school to college more seamless.
She pointed to a program between Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute, UNM and Albuquerque Public Schools in which the three institutions are not only working to align academic standards, but providing college level classes to APS high school students.
She agreed with Garcia that, while helpful, the DFA study's findings are hard to swallow.
"The students are entering our doors and not having the skills to succeed," McClure said.

The High Schools
Here are the public high schools in New Mexico that had the largest and the smallest percentages of graduates taking remedial classes in either math or literacy upon entering a state college or university between 2000 and 2004. The top 10 schools in each category are listed.

Most Graduates Taking College Remedial Classes
     Newcomb High School — 82.1 percent
     Tohatchi High School — 77.6 percent
     Hondo High School — 77.3 percent
     Santa Teresa High School — 75.8 percent
     Hagerman High School — 75.5 percent
     Shiprock High School — 75.1 percent
     Loving High School — 72.8 percent
     Jemez Valley High School — 72.3 percent
     Crownpoint High School — 70.7 percent

Fewest Graduates Taking College Remedial Classes
     Wagon Mound High School — 16 percent
     Quemado High School — 21.7 percent
     Dora High School — 24.1 percent
     Clayton High School — 24.2 percent
     Los Alamos High School — 24.4 percent
     La Cueva High School — 25.4 percent
     Grady High School — 29.4 percent
     Vaughn High School — 30.8 percent
     Carrizozo High School — 31.6 percent
     Eldorado High School — 32.7 percent

URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/452207nm04-18-06.htm

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