Sweeney Elementary fifth grader Alex Carrillo concentrates on an in-class typing assignment in Donald Chavez鈥檚 technology class last week. The most recent testing showed Sweeney has doubled its rate of students proficient in math, to 10% from 5%, but that鈥檚 still 12 percentage points lower than the citywide average, as Sweeney and many south-side schools are falling behind in proficiency rates.
Sweeney Elementary School students gather in the office on Friday to help out with the morning announcements and Pledge of Allegiance. 疯客直播 Fe Superintendent聽聽Hilario 鈥淟arry鈥 Chavez said one reason for the better test scores on the east and north sides of the city was a stable workforce, as schools on the south side and in midtown have struggled to fill teacher vacancies.
Sweeney Elementary School fifth graders Kendra Ramirez, right, and Maria Marino work on an in-class cybersecurity assignment in Donald Chavez鈥檚 technology class last week. 鈥淲e are happy with our growth in math but know it鈥檚 far from where we want to be,鈥 said Principal Melissa Kovac of the school鈥檚 5 percentage point growth in math proficiency.
Sweeney Elementary fifth grader Alex Carrillo concentrates on an in-class typing assignment in Donald Chavez鈥檚 technology class last week. The most recent testing showed Sweeney has doubled its rate of students proficient in math, to 10% from 5%, but that鈥檚 still 12 percentage points lower than the citywide average, as Sweeney and many south-side schools are falling behind in proficiency rates.
Sweeney Elementary School students gather in the office on Friday to help out with the morning announcements and Pledge of Allegiance. 疯客直播 Fe Superintendent聽聽Hilario 鈥淟arry鈥 Chavez said one reason for the better test scores on the east and north sides of the city was a stable workforce, as schools on the south side and in midtown have struggled to fill teacher vacancies.
疯客直播 Fe Public Schools鈥 recently released data from state standardized testing shows some bright spots but also a persistent gap in results between schools on the city鈥檚 south side 鈥 which tend to have higher numbers of low-income students and English language learners 鈥 and those in other areas of the district.
Overall, the district reported a two-point increase in students proficient in reading in the 2023-24 school year, to 40%, while math scores stagnated, with 22% of students showing proficiency.
On the north and east sides of 疯客直播 Fe, top performers like Acequia Madre and Carlos Gilbert elementary schools, and Mandela International Magnet School boasted around 70% of students proficient in reading and 50% in math, according to numbers the district released last week.
On the south side, schools that were already falling behind in proficiency rates reported some growth but not enough to bridge the geographic gap, with many schools continuing to report around 25% of students proficient in reading and 15% in math.
鈥淭he data shows where we鈥檝e made some progress and where we鈥檝e kind of stalled a little bit. But it also gives us a roadmap to make improvements to really address the areas of need,鈥 district Superintendent Hilario 鈥淟arry鈥 Chavez said in an interview.
The district鈥檚 scores are up from before the coronavirus pandemic 鈥 with overall reading and math proficiency rates at 32% and 18%, respectively, in 2018.
鈥淧re-pandemic numbers were pretty static for everybody, not just 疯客直播 Fe Public Schools,鈥 Chavez said. 鈥淭hen we went through the pandemic and remote learning and everyone regressed. And so for those schools who did not regress pre-pandemic to current day, I think we have to make note of that as well.鈥
One of the largest post-pandemic changes was the district鈥檚 2022 shift to standards-based instruction, which prioritizes student learning within grade-level curriculum. Erica Martinez-Maestas, principal of Chaparral Elementary School, credited her school鈥檚 six-point jump in English Language Arts proficiency to a 鈥渢ireless鈥 commitment to those grade-level standards and differentiated instruction to 鈥渂est meet the needs of all students.鈥
Chaparral, which serves the midtown area west of St. Francis Drive, also invests in family engagement, she said, inviting parents to the school for game nights or to eat lunch with their child, which she said brought 鈥渉uge turnout.鈥 The school found family engagement was the best avenue to support student well-being.
The district also has instituted programs that are intended to target the district鈥檚 divides, including improved bilingual education, attendance initiatives and free summer programs. Teacher vacancies, something the district has been proud to see a decline in, have also plagued south-side schools more than those farther north.
鈥淥ur east-side and north-side schools have stability in their workforce,鈥 Chavez said. 鈥淎nd so now we鈥檙e hoping that we see that stability in the midtown to south-side schools as well.鈥
Chavez noted one south-side school, Pi帽on Elementary, is a 鈥渟hining star鈥 thanks to its stability and teacher retention rate. Pi帽on beat local trends to grow several points in its proficiency rates, almost reaching north-side rates at 53% in reading and 38% in math.
Pi帽on is one of the data鈥檚 outliers, alongside Nava Elementary School鈥檚 22-point jump in reading proficiency. Nava is a small school, but alone is responsible for an overall point of districtwide growth in reading proficiency.
鈥淚n a school of our size, even minor shifts in student numbers can have a disproportionate impact on our overall proficiency percentages,鈥 said Tesuque Elementary School Principal Amy Thomas, whose school has just 62 students. 鈥淭he difference between the number of students proficient in ELA from last year to this year is less than five students.鈥
The difference in scores between north- and south-side schools partly reflects long-standing economic inequalities. While there is a correlation between wealth and educational outcomes, last year鈥檚 five best-performing schools in English language arts, all located on the city鈥檚 north side, experienced declines in reading proficiency, something Chavez attributed partly to 鈥渘ot much room for growth.鈥
Mandela International Magnet School, which serves middle and high school students and offers an International Baccalaureate program, declined several points in math and reading but still reported rates almost twice the district and statewide averages.
鈥淲e are happy with our growth in math but know it鈥檚 far from where we want to be,鈥 said Melissa Kovac, principal of Sweeney Elementary School, a south-side school that doubled its rate of students proficient in math, to 10% from 5%.
Kovac, who started at Sweeney last year, said she 鈥渂egan by addressing students鈥 needs by adjusting the dual-language model and focusing on implementing high-quality instruction in classrooms.鈥
Chavez thinks the district鈥檚 initiatives are starting to pay off and scores will go up soon.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just one-size-fits-all. ... I think it has to be kind of a melting pot of ingredients in order to get outcomes,鈥 Chavez said. 鈥淭hat growth might not meet what is considered proficiency, but the students are making progress. They just need a little more time.鈥