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In April, New Mexico launched a tutoring effort with all the 鈥渉igh-impact鈥� elements experts say lead to success: small groups, led by a trained tutor for 90 minutes of instruction spread throughout the week.

It was the third attempt in two years.

With the school year winding down, some districts never even got word the program existed. Those that participated quickly scrambled to cram it into their schedules.

鈥淭he timing wasn’t optimal,鈥� said Matt Monta帽o, superintendent of the Bernalillo Public Schools, north of Albuquerque, and one of just five districts out of the state鈥檚 89 to sign up. Staff members, he said, were 鈥渁 little bit less than enthusiastic鈥� about the interruption.

The late rollout was only the most recent snag in the state鈥檚 troubled effort to spend millions in federal relief funds for tutoring before the deadline to use the money hits next month.

The first attempt 鈥� with an on-demand, virtual provider 鈥� met with a meager response from families. A second try never got off the ground because of a contract mishap the state still won鈥檛 fully explain. And the delayed start on the third effort means only a fraction of the students slated for tutoring got it. State officials estimate that between 2,000 and 3,000 students received the extra help 鈥� far less than the 8,000 they were hoping to reach.

“Clearly, it was not the best,” Amanda DeBell, New Mexico鈥檚 deputy education secretary, said of the condensed program. But in July, the legislature pumped new life into the effort, providing $8.5 million for high-dosage tutoring this fall. The state also plans to use what鈥檚 left of the $4 million in federal relief funds that they鈥檇 hoped to spend last school year to support math tutoring for middle school students.

Data shows New Mexico students still have a lot of ground to make up to combat pandemic learning loss. The state in fourth grade math and reading in the most recent iteration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The experience underscores the difficulty of pulling off a statewide tutoring effort 鈥� even one backed by convincing research and millions of dollars in federal relief funds.

At a May tutoring conference at Stanford University, Education Secretary Arsenio Romero spoke candidly about the state鈥檚 false starts. 

鈥淪ometimes we as educators are our own worst enemies,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e go through year-long cycles before we 鈥� make changes. You need to be able to pivot.鈥� 

鈥楢ll the way to the living room鈥�

Especially when the needs are so great. 

On state tests, less than a quarter of New Mexico students meet math standards and just 38% score proficient in English language arts. The state also continues to operate under to improve education for English learners and low-income, special education and Native American students.

In late 2022, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the state had signed a with Paper, a virtual, on-demand tutoring company. The promised to offer students in high-poverty elementary and middle schools 鈥� those hit hardest by school closures 鈥� up to 20 hours of free tutoring.

But the state abruptly terminated the contract less than three months later. The model expected families to sign up for help on nights and weekends, which research shows who are furthest behind. Those students might not know the right questions to ask a tutor, and technical glitches associated with online programs tend to frustrate both kids and parents who are already discouraged.

鈥淭his service is not providing the results in terms of engagement, support or delivery of service to the state鈥檚 students,鈥� Mariana Padilla, then-interim secretary of education, wrote to the company.

Monta帽o in Bernalillo doesn鈥檛 think any students in his district signed up for the program. 鈥淒eployment from the state level all the way to the living room of families is a hugely difficult process,鈥� he said.

Paper officials cited multiple reasons for the rocky rollout. The program launched just as students returned from holiday break in January 2023, and the state didn鈥檛 give the company enough time to get buy-in from families and schools, said spokeswoman Ava Paydar.

Re-envisioning tutoring 

Romero, appointed secretary by Lujan Grisham in March 2023, faced the immediate challenge of finding a more-effective tutoring provider.

鈥淚t really 鈥� allowed us to re-envision what we wanted tutoring to look like,鈥� he said at the Stanford conference. 

Three months after it canceled Paper鈥檚 contract, the state education department for vendors who could offer a high-impact model, either in person or virtually. The virtual classes that predominated during the height of the pandemic set students back academically by months, even years. But research shows that live instruction from a tutor working remotely can produce positive results if schools schedule sessions during the school day and offer the same consistent and frequent support as an in-person tutor.

The state chose three providers, who were slated to begin serving students last August. But officials abruptly canceled that program before it got started because of a protest from another vendor that wasn鈥檛 chosen. The department declined to explain the nature of the dispute, and Romero said the education department never finalized contracts with the three providers.

Some education advocates grew impatient as they watched the school year go by without a program in place. 

鈥淲e failed to offer consistent access to quality, high-impact tutoring,鈥� said Amanda Aragon, executive director of NewMexicoKidsCAN, part of a national network of education policy and advocacy groups. She called the spring effort 鈥渋n no way sufficient.鈥�

While New Mexico may have faced more obstacles than most, other states trying to provide tutoring to thousands of students have weathered similar ordeals.

New Jersey to get funding to districts to hire tutors, and Virginia initially got a from districts when Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced his new All in VA plan, which includes high-impact tutoring in third through eighth grades. In Louisiana, some vendors passed on participating in a program that pays for one-to-one sessions 鈥� about half what providers normally charge. 

鈥淎ny state that was ambitious enough to take on large-scale implementation of tutoring has experienced growing pains,鈥� said Nakia Towns, chief operating officer of Accelerate, a funding tutoring programs and research. Many have struggled to find high-quality vendors and convince districts to participate. 

With the new state funding, New Mexico is trying something different. The state will provide the money, but districts will issue their own contracts and have flexibility to hire teachers or choose the outside vendors they want. 

District efforts

One reason New Mexico leaders ultimately changed course is that they saw that districts had succeeded in blending tutoring into the school day.

Ten Las Cruces schools participated in a program this past school year with , a virtual model led by credentialed educators. Students who were a grade level or more behind gained roughly twice as much learning as those who didn鈥檛 get tutoring, leading the district to invite the provider back this fall, said co-founder Rahul Kalita.

Romero visited one of the district鈥檚 schools in October and saw Spanish-speaking students practicing their English skills with a bilingual tutor while also getting math support.

Kalita attributed some of the state鈥檚 prior difficulties to a lack of 鈥渟teady leadership鈥� at the top. Romero is New Mexico鈥檚 third education secretary since 2019.

“Funding is critical, but it’s just the first step,鈥� he said.

Further evidence on in-school tutoring comes from on a virtual model that has helped prepare over 500 New Mexico middle school students for high school algebra. The program, continuing this fall, is used in large districts like Chicago, Miami-Dade and Fulton County, Georgia. In New Mexico, the effort includes 19 districts, many of them small and isolated, like Tatum Municipal Schools. 

Located about 15 miles from the Texas border, the rural district had just 26 seventh graders last school year. All of them received tutoring, and over half met or exceeded goals by the spring. That鈥檚 a small improvement over their scores from sixth grade, said Superintendent Robin Fulce, but he considers that progress significant because of the 鈥渂ig jump鈥� in rigorous material in seventh grade.

The program has convinced Fulce that students can form tight relationships even with tutors they meet online. 

Recently, two of those tutors passed through town for a visit.

鈥淭hey brought doughnuts and every kid in that seventh grade went over and hugged them. 鈥淚t was a very good experience,鈥� Fulce said. To him, the state鈥檚 multiple tutoring efforts reinforced that offering services outside the school day doesn鈥檛 benefit 鈥渒ids who need it the most.鈥�

The results, Romero said, influenced the state鈥檚 decision to shift gears and make 鈥渄ecisions based on research and data.鈥�

Monta帽o, the Bernalillo superintendent, estimated that about 800 students in his district received services 鈥� roughly half those he felt should have gotten the support. But he doesn鈥檛 consider it a wasted effort.

鈥淚t was too good of an opportunity for us not to take advantage鈥� of it, he said. 

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