Are New Mexico students learning? Hard to say without tests

By CEDAR ATTANASIO
Associated Press/Report for America

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico education officials say not enough students were tested last spring to gauge learning loss during the pandemic. All states skipped testing in 2020 when the pandemic hit. New Mexico also got a so-called “accountability wavier” allowing it to skip testing last spring, even as schools were opening up. It’s the third year in a row that comparable education data will not be available to policymakers. That’s because the New Mexico Public Education Department has changed standardized tests twice since 2018, and didn’t implement them during the pandemic. The next tests are planned for spring of 2022, months after the Legislature sets the $3 billion education budget.