It’s a longstanding trend: Native students in New Mexico’s largest school district miss class more than their peers and score lower in reading, science and math. Now, the district is partnering with Native-led groups in what officials say is an effort to change that.
The “Being a Good Relative” initiative — a collaboration between Albuquerque Public Schools and nonprofits including the One Generation Fund — issued a report this spring with ideas for Albuquerque Public School to do a better job at serving Native students, such as giving them more opportunities to learn outside of the classroom and hiring more Native teachers.
About 6,800 students representing over 125 tribal nations were enrolled in the 2023-2024 school year, making up about 10% of the total student population at APS.
There’s a lot to work with in the report, so in the next school year, the district will focus on four areas, said Tanya Campos (Isleta Pueblo), chief of equity and engagement for the district. Those areas are high-quality curriculum, college and career readiness, supporting student clubs, and experiential learning, which can include outdoor activities.
The basic idea driving some of those programs is that a positive school environment where students feel accepted leads to better academic outcomes.
Compared to district averages, Native students have lower proficiency rates across a range of subjects. The largest gap the report points to is in science, where the rate is 21.6% for Native students and 65% for non-Hispanic white students. Native students — one of the groups the state failed in its constitutional duty to provide an adequate education, according to the Yazzie/Martinez court ruling — also have the highest rate of chronic absences, at 42.5% compared to 30.8% overall.
“These are not good statistics, and again, these statistics have been around for generations. This is not new data,” Campos said. “And I think that’s one of the things the superintendent is saying. Why is this—you know, I don’t know if we’re just getting complacent, but this isn’t right.”
Those gaps, the report reads, “are not an indication of the potential or intellect of Native students.” Instead, they point to a need to “better recognize and integrate the cultural knowledge, perspectives, and intellectual traditions that Native students and communities bring, ensuring schools honor and build upon these strengths.”
Superintendent Gabriella Blakey announced the collaboration last fall, but it got its start in 2022.
That’s the year the district held its first annual Urban Indigenous Education Summit, which is meant to give Native students from different schools the chance to meet each other and talk about their experiences.
Last year’s event featured poetry readings and a panel from Native students in elementary and high school about what leadership means to them. One of the panelists, then a senior at Cibola High School, said teachers could do more to help students feel a sense of belonging.
Native students have lower confidence in their ability to achieve goals, according to district surveys. And only 30% feel that they matter to other people at their schools.
Students want lessons that, by drawing on their cultural backgrounds, are more relevant to them and opportunities to “connect with their peers in a way that reaffirms their Indigenous identities,” said Lashawna Tso (Diné), senior director of community partnerships and government relations at One Generation Fund.
The collaborative group has continued to meet since publishing the report.
“We don’t see this as a one-time, this is what our findings are, now we expect APS to find a way to implement them,” Tso said. “We intend on being a partner, a continued partner, to improve student outcomes.”
The district aims to eventually craft a timeline for carrying forward all of the recommendations, Campos said.
“We can’t be doing the same thing over and over again,” she said. “I’m very committed that this is not just a check-the-box mentality. You can do some things very quickly, and on paper, it looks really good. But if you’re really going to move change, it does take some time, but you also have to have the respect and the commitment from the community.”
The same day New Mexico In Depth spoke with Campos, the Trump administration told states it will withhold $6.8 billion in federal funds already approved by Congress for K-12 schools across the country, pending a review with no clear timeline. New Mexico has joined two dozen other states in a lawsuit against the administration to restore the funding.
Affected programs include educator training and recruitment and student support, such as college and career readiness. New Mexico could lose nearly $45 million, according to the state Department of Justice. And of that, APS is estimated to lose about $12 million.
However, the district doesn’t anticipate the freeze will affect its plans to enact the Being a Good Relative initiative’s recommendations, said communications director Martin Salazar.