By DAVID P. HURFORD Ph.D.
Executive Director
Center for READing, Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg, Kansas
For too long, New Mexico’s students – especially Native American, Hispanic, and low-income kids – were denied foundational literacy skills that open doors to lifelong opportunity.
A sustained, science-based investment is starting to change that.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico education leaders have made literacy a statewide priority since her term began in 2019. Over the past six years, New Mexico has invested more than $250 million in literacy initiatives, including training all pre-K through 6th grade educators in evidence-based reading instruction.
The result is one of the most ambitious literacy transformation efforts in the country and the progress is beginning to show. Reading proficiency among students in grades 3 through 8 has increased by 10 percentage points since 2022. Some of the strongest gains have come among historically underserved student groups: Native American students improved by 13 percentage points, economically disadvantaged students by 12 points,
Hispanic students by 10 points and English learners by 8 points, according to data from the New Mexico Public Education Department, Reading proficiency affects nearly every measure of future well-being: graduation rates, workforce readiness, civic participation, and long-term economic mobility. Children who struggle to read by third grade often face compounding educational barriers throughout their lives. They also suffer psychologically and emotionally long into adulthood. No or low literacy in adulthood costs New Mexico approximately 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
The state’s approach reflects a broad, coordinated effort to align teacher training, classroom instruction, student intervention, and public accountability around what research indicates works best for early reading acquisition and development. The approach, known as the “science of reading,” includes the use of systematic and cumulative teaching (step by step and in a certain order), explicit instruction so that students do not have to rely on guessing, and the expectation that teachers use instructional data to adapt instruction from day to day to help students as they progress. It includes evidence-based practices which involve teaching all aspects of reading processes (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as students’ progress systematically).
And New Mexico isn’t slowing down: this year Governor Lujan Grisham signed bipartisan legislation establishing the High- Quality Literacy Instruction Act, which codified evidence-based Structured Literacy practices into state law. The legislation requires K-3 reading assessments, family notification, and individualized student intervention plans when students are struggling so that they can meet grade level expectations by third grade. The Public Education Department is now providing literacy coaches in every elementary school with proficiency rates in the bottom quartile.
New Mexico’s progress matters because it demonstrates that improvement is possible even in states facing longstanding structural inequities. Critics sometimes argue that low-performing education systems are too entrenched to change. New Mexico proves otherwise.
Literacy reform cannot depend on temporary enthusiasm or a single administration. Lasting progress requires durable systems that survive leadership transitions and political cycles. New Mexico has built them. Literacy improvements are already changing lives and will continue to do so as long as New Mexico stays the course.
The administration has paired literacy investments with broader education reforms, including extended learning time, summer literacy programming, and efforts to strengthen teacher recruitment and retention.
New Mexico’s literacy strategy deserves attention precisely because it combines urgency with sustained implementation. The state did not simply declare literacy a priority; it invested in teacher training, instructional practice, intervention systems, and long-term infrastructure.
The work ahead remains substantial. But the trajectory matters.