New Mexico literacy scores rise 10%, math barely budges

New Mexico student literacy scores rose 10% over the past year, while math scores increased by just 1%, according to the results of the 2026 New Mexico VISTAS and school accreditation tests released Monday by the Public Education Department. The gains mark a sharper jump in reading than in math, and state officials said progress in science has stalled after earlier improvements.

“PED uses these systems to help us understand how each school is doing and to identify what support they need to strengthen student outcomes,” said Mariana Padilla, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Lynn Vásquez, Senior Manager for Assessment, Research, Evaluation, and Accountability for PED, said science results have retreated to where they stood in 2022. “Although it is improving, we know that this progress is much too slow and science has remained relatively flat,” Vásquez said.

At Eagle Peak Career Academy in Shiprock, Principal Brian Paniagua said the assessments help his school identify students who need support at home. “They are taking on a lot of responsibilities in the homes with helping with siblings and things like that, and so providing sort of toolkits on how they can manage time, giving them a little bit of counseling,” Paniagua said.

Ten of Rio Rancho Public Schools’ 11 elementary schools improved in English language arts proficiency, and eight improved in mathematics. Matthew Soriano, a teacher at Sandia Vista Elementary School, credited district leaders for monitoring progress. “Well, I think that the scores that we saw, I mean, they’re showing a lot of growth, which means that we’re headed in a positive direction,” Soriano said.

Excluding charter schools, Albuquerque Public Schools saw language arts proficiency drop by half a percentage point and math rise by 0.1% compared with the prior year. In a statement, Superintendent Gabriella Duran Blakey said:

While we were hoping for stronger growth, I’m proud that our students largely held onto the hard-won gains from 2025. This shows the real resilience of our students and the dedication of our staff. We know we still have work to do, and we’re more committed than ever to helping every student reach their full potential.

The state will administer the same performance tests next spring.