Santa Fe, NM – Today, Governor Susana Martinez announced the statewide launch of the early warning dropout prevention system designed to keep more kids in school and on track to graduate.
“I firmly believe that every child can learn – regardless of their background – and our early warning dropout prevention system will help more of our kids stay on the path to success,” Governor Martinez said. “By expanding this program statewide, we strengthen the support network that helps students stay in class and on track to graduate. New Mexico’s kids deserve nothing less.”
The dropout early warning system is designed to monitor students’ academic, disciplinary, and attendance history throughout elementary, middle, and high school to see where a student may need special attention or intervention. The program raises red flags if a student has failed any classes during middle and high school. The data gathered keeps schools informed if students aren’t meeting certain graduation benchmarks, so they can intervene early.
While the program is now being made available to all schools in New Mexico, it has already been piloted at 17 schools over the past two years. Those schools participating in the pilot program have used the system to identify and target nearly 400 students to support with additional interventions and keep on track in school. 32 new schools have signed on to begin using the system this year.
For the second year in a row, Governor Martinez’s budget included funding for 59 dropout coaches and social workers for schools across New Mexico, to help keep more kids in school, reduce truancy, and put more students on the path to graduate. That program is already showing promising results, with daily average attendance up across schools that participated last year.