What Does The End of No Child Left Behind Mean For Teachers In NM?

March 4, 2016 – Students in New Mexico will soon close their textbooks and begin another year of PARCC testing, unless parents opt their children out of the test.

Last year, some students protested the test by walking out of class.  A group of teachers also sat down with New Mexico in Focus to discuss their concerns about how the test was administered and how the Public Education Department plans to use results to measure teacher performance.

The dispute over teacher evaluations has  now turned into a court battle. In December, a judge issued a temporary injunction in a legal case to prevent the use of PARCC results in teacher evaluations until the lawsuit is resolved.

Our correspondent Stan Wilson sat down recently with Ellen Bernstein from the Albuquerque Teachers Federation and teacher Marisa Silva-Dunbar talk about recent changes to the No Child Left Behind Act, the struggles some low-income students  face and how schools are helping students overcome those challenges and succeed academically.

This week, Stan also discusses PARCC test data and what happens when students opt out with Rose-Ann McKernan from the Office of Accountability & Reporting at Albuquerque Public Schools.

New Mexico in Focus made several attempts to schedule an interview with Education Secretary Hanna Skandera but her staff did not respond to our requests.