Collectively, we believe students should be in school every day, and they should graduate confident in who they are while thriving in their choice of further education, a successful career and life in general.
Along those lines, New Mexico educators and parents know that our young people have the innate ability to compete nationally and internationally, when given the right conditions for learning that will serve them well in future endeavors. Decades of research at multiple levels demonstrate that the number of students in a class is the single most important factor in predicting student success when coupled with a highly qualified teacher.
Common sense dictates that a highly qualified educator will have more individual time with a student when the ratio between the two is lower. It’s simple math. It is also entirely possible for the policy makers in this state to provide a student to teacher ratio of 15:1 in Pre-K – 3rd grade classrooms, 18:1 in 4th-8th grade classrooms, and 22:1 in 9th-12th grade classrooms. In fact, educators have emphatically been telling us this for years in New Mexico. Class size matters and reducing those class sizes is achievable in this upcoming Legislative Session. Simply put, to support the future success of our students, this is the conversation we should be having NOW. Class size reduction, when sustained over time, will yield the results that we all so desperately want for our children, which is improved outcomes, competence, creativity, and productivity.
Among the many advantages of moving in this direction, smaller class sizes are easy to measure, they would greatly benefit every single student with more one on one interaction, and there is unified agreement with this strategy, unlike others that have been forced in recent years. Children need champions: people that believe in them and will support them unconditionally. This approach would allow just that, the opportunity for every student to have a champion at school; someone who notices and acts when they are not in attendance and so much more.
Smaller class sizes would also be a huge retention factor for teachers as it would help support our existing workforce, while allowing us the chance to rebuild. This action alone would provide much needed stability in a very beleaguered workforce.
Finally, and just as important, smaller class sizes (when coupled with increased planning time) would allow educators the necessary time to dig into chronic absenteeism, which is another critical indicator of poor educational outcomes. We know that across the state, forty percent of our students are chronically absent from school. These new conditions will finally allow educators to follow up on students who miss school ten or more days in a school year and would increase learning time without adding days to the calendar, which is much more controversial.
Let’s provide every single child with the best opportunity to succeed before moving into other less friendly policies. In a recent article in the Santa Fe Reporter, “... NewMexicoKidsCAN Executive Director Amanda Aragon, who studies statewide education issues as part of her daily work… Aragon plans to advocate for improved literacy programs as well. At the state’s most recent Legislative Education Study Meeting on Dec. 14, she proposed plans to help improve student reading outcomes, including personalized reading plans; auditing and publicly publishing literacy teaching materials; and holding back third-grade students who don’t obtain the reading scores needed.”
Before we debate the ill-advised third grade retention again, doesn’t it make a lot more sense to invest in strategies that are common sense, parent, and student friendly and have decades of research proving they work? Students assigned to smaller classes do better in every measurable way: They score higher on tests, receive better grades, and exhibit improved attendance and behavior.
We share the value of a well-rounded quality education for every child, and we need to start visualizing and legislating this vision into reality, instead of misplaced blame and tired rhetoric. We need to turn the page. Our students are counting on us.
Mary Parr-Sánchez is a 32-year veteran educator teaching over 2 decades teaching history and civics at Picacho Middle School. She is the mother of 4, grandmother of 2 and the elected leader of the National Education Association in New Mexico.
