PUBLISH STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT INFO

SB0034

SENATE BILL 34

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Gabriel Ramos
and
Luis M. Terrazas

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; REQUIRING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT TO REPORT AND PUBLISH DATA ON THE RESULTS OF THE
STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENTS ADMINISTERED IN THE IMMEDIATELY
PRECEDING SCHOOL YEAR; REQUIRING THE REPORT TO BE PUBLISHED ON
OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1 OF EACH YEAR; MAKING CONFORMING AND
TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
Section 22-2C-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003,
Chapter 153, Section 20, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-2C-11. ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM
REPORTING--PARENT SURVEY--
PRELIMINARY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
DATA
SYSTEM--FISCAL INFORMATION.--

A. The department shall:

(1) issue a state identification number for
each public school student for use in the accountability data
system;

(2) adopt the format for
the
reporting

required by the Assessment and Accountability Act that is
clear, concise and understandable to parents and the general
public and that protects the privacy of students;

(3) report
individual student assessments to
parents, [
The student assessments
]
which
shall
include a
report
[
each
]
on the
student's progress and academic needs as measured
against state standards;

[
(3) adopt the format for reporting annual
]

(4) report the preliminary data on the results
of the standards-based assessments from the immediately
preceding school year on or before September 1 of each year,
which shall include data on the proficiency rates for each
tested subject and each grade tested by school level, district
level and statewide performance and by student demographics;

(5) provide an annual accountability report on
the
progress of public schools, school districts, state-chartered charter schools and the department; [
a school
district's report shall include reports of all locally
chartered charter schools in the school district
]
provided that

if the department has adopted a state improving schools
program, the annual accountability report shall include the
results of that program for each public school; [
The annual
accountability report format shall be clear, concise and
understandable to parents and the general public. All annual
accountability reports shall ensure that the privacy of
individual students is protected;

(4) require that when public schools, school
districts, state-chartered charter schools and the state
disaggregate and report school data for demographic subgroups,
they include data disaggregated by ethnicity, race, limited
English proficiency, students with disabilities, poverty and
gender; provided that ethnicity and race shall be reported
using the following categories:

(a) Caucasian, non-Hispanic;

(b) Hispanic;

(c) African American;

(d) American Indian or Alaska Native;

(e) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific
Islander;

(f) Asian;

(g) two or more races; and

(h) other; provided that if the sample
of students in any category enumerated in Subparagraphs (a)
through (g) of this paragraph is so small that a student in the
sample may be personally identifiable in violation of the
federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the
report may combine that sample into the "other" category;

(5)
]
(6)
report cohort graduation data
annually for the state, for each school district and for each
state-chartered charter school and each public high school,
based on information provided by all school districts and
state-chartered charter schools according to procedures
established by the department; provided that the report shall
include the number and percentage of students in a cohort who:

(a) have graduated by August 1 of the
fourth year after entering the ninth grade;

(b) have graduated in more than four
years, but by August 1 of the fifth year after entering ninth
grade;

(c) have received a state certificate by
exiting the school system at the end of grade twelve without
having satisfied the requirements for a high school diploma as
provided in Section 22-13-1.1 NMSA 1978 or completed all course
requirements but have not passed the graduation assessment or
portfolio of standards-based indicators pursuant to Section
22-13-1.1 NMSA 1978;

(d) have dropped out or whose status is
unknown;

(e) have exited public school and
indicated an intent to pursue a high school equivalency
credential; or

(f) are still enrolled in public school;

[
(6)
]
(7)
report annually, based on data
provided by school districts and state-chartered charter
schools, the number and percentage of public school students in
each cohort in the state in grades nine through twelve who have
advanced to the next grade or graduated on schedule, who remain
enrolled but have not advanced to the next grade on schedule,
who have dropped out or whose other educational outcomes are
known to the department; and

[
(7)
]
(8)
establish technical criteria and
procedures to define which students are included or excluded
from a cohort.

B. Local school boards and governing boards of
charter schools may establish additional indicators through
which to measure the school district's or charter school's
performance.

C. Student demographic data in a report required by
the Assessment and Accountability Act shall be disaggregated by
ethnicity, race, limited English proficiency, students with
disabilities, poverty and gender. Ethnicity and race shall be
reported using the following categories: Caucasian, non-Hispanic; Hispanic; African American; American Indian or
Alaskan Native; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander;
Asian; two or more races; and other. If the sample of students
in an ethnicity and race category, besides the "other"
category, is so small that a student in the sample may be
personally identifiable in violation of the federal Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the report may
combine that sample into the "other" category.

D. The department's report on preliminary data on
the results of the standards-based assessments shall be
conspicuously published on the department's website in an
accessible and user-friendly digital format.

[
C.
]
E.
The school district's or state-chartered
charter school's annual accountability report shall include a
report of four- and five-year graduation rates for each public
high school in the school district or state-chartered charter
school. [
All annual accountability reports shall ensure that
the privacy of individual students is protected.
] As part of
the graduation rate data, the school district or state-chartered charter school shall include data showing the number
and percentage of students in the cohort:

(1) who have received a state certificate by
exiting the school system at the end of grade twelve without
having satisfied the requirements for a high school diploma as
provided in Section 22-13-1.1 NMSA 1978 or completed all course
requirements but have not passed the graduation assessment or
portfolio of standards-based indicators pursuant to Section
22-13-1.1 NMSA 1978;

(2) who have dropped out or whose status is
unknown;

(3) who have exited public school and
indicated an intent to pursue a high school equivalency
credential;

(4) who are still enrolled; and

(5) whose other educational outcomes are known
to the school district.

[
D.
]
F.
The school district's or state-chartered
charter school's annual accountability report shall be adopted
by the local school board or governing body of the state-chartered charter school [
shall be
]
and
published no later than
November 15 of each year [
and shall be published at least once
each school year
] in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county where the school district or state-chartered charter
school is located as well as [
online
] on the website of the
school district or state-chartered charter school. In
publication, the report shall be titled "The School District
Report Card" or "The Charter School Report Card" and
disseminated in accordance with guidelines established by the
department to ensure effective communication with parents,
students, educators, local policymakers and business and
community organizations.

[
E.
]
G.
The annual accountability report shall
include the names of [
those
]
the
members of the local school
board or the governing body of the charter school who failed to
attend annual mandatory training.

[
F.
]
H.
The annual accountability report shall
include data on expenditures for central office administration
and expenditures for the public schools of the school district
or charter school.

[
G.
]
I.
The department shall create [
an
accountability
]
a
data system
for preliminary and
accountability data
through which data from each public school
and each school district or state-chartered charter school may
be compiled and reviewed. The department shall provide the
resources to train school district and charter school personnel
in the use of the accountability data system.

[
H.
]
J.
The department shall verify data submitted
by the school districts and state-chartered charter schools.

[
I. At the end of fiscal year 2005
]
K.
After the
budget approval cycle, the department shall produce a report to
the legislature that shows, for all school districts, [
using
performance-based program budgeting
] the relationship between
[
that
]
the
portion of a school district's program cost
generated by each public school in the school district and the
budgeted expenditures for each public school in the school
district as reported in the district's performance-based
program budget. [
At the end of fiscal year 2006 and subsequent
fiscal years, after the budget approval cycle, the department
shall report on this relationship in all public schools in all
school districts in the state.

J. When all public schools are participating in
performance-based budgeting
]

L.
The department shall recommend annually to the
legislature [
for inclusion in the general appropriation act
the
]
a
maximum percentage of
general appropriation act

appropriations that may be expended in each school district for
central office administration.

[
K.
]
M.
The department shall disseminate its
statewide accountability report to school districts and charter
schools; the governor, legislators and other policymakers; and
business and economic development organizations.

[
L.
]
N.
As used in this section, "cohort" means a
group of students who enter grade nine for the first time at
the same time, plus those students who transfer into the group
in later years and minus those students who leave the cohort
for documented excusable reasons."

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