This week we continue to focus on the Latino achievement gap in our region and explore how states are looking beyond federal guidelines and assistance to come up with some possible solutions to close the gap in the Southwest. More than one-third of Latino students are English Language Learners and, according to Department of Education data, they consistently perform poorly on state tests and have lower graduation rates than whites and Asians.
New Mexico is becoming the latest state to be freed from the No Child Left Behind grading system. While the state may be free of the federal system, the recently implemented state A to F state grading system left Las Cruces Schools with less than stellar marks. Las Cruces Public Schools was a bit bottom heavy with C’s and D’s, but Superintendent Stan Rounds says that isn’t necessarily bad news. Last week Rounds explained the new system and how Las Cruces falls into the educational spectrum, this week we talk about just how far the grading system can push students without having and adverse effect.