New Mexico Rising

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham recently opted New Mexico into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC) program. The program allows taxpayers to receive a federal tax credit for contributions to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), which can then provide scholarships to eligible students for educational expenses, including tutoring, after-school programs, and more.

In this special episode of New Mexico Rising, Amanda and Dominica break down how the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit works, explain what it is and isn't, address common misconceptions, and explore what the program could mean for New Mexico public school students and families.

Benjamin Barlow, Principal of North Star Elementary School, joins us to discuss improving student achievement, the role of school culture in student success, and what it takes to serve students from across Albuquerque. We also discuss Principal Barlow’s experience as a former principal and teacher in Mississippi and how his firsthand experience with the Mississippi Marathon informs his work and his belief in what’s possible for education in New Mexico.
To learn more about the Mississippi Marathon, listen to these episodes of New Mexico Rising:
Semester 4, Episode 1: The Mississippi Miracle (with Erika Huffman)
Semester 5, Episode 7: Community Voices: Reflections on the Mississippi Marathon

On this episode, we welcome back NewMexicoKidsCAN Advocacy Manager, Dominica Chavez, as co-host to break down New Mexico’s latest statewide assessment results. Together, Amanda and Dominica unpack student performance in reading and math, highlight areas of progress, and discuss the work that remains to ensure every New Mexico student is reading and doing math on grade level.

To learn more about the 2025–2026 statewide assessment results, visit nmvistas.org to explore state, district, and school performance. Visit nmkidscan.org to sign up for emails from NewMexicoKidsCAN and stay up to date on the latest education news and data in New Mexico.

David Diller, Co-Chair of the Changemakers Alumni Spark Change Awards, joins Amanda to discuss the Spark Change Awards, the Spring 2026 award recipients, and why celebrating their success matters. An initiative of Changemakers Alumni, the Spark Change Awards recognize New Mexico schools that are the highest-performing or fastest-improving in reading and math for Yazzie Martinez students. Tune in to hear more about this year’s recipients and how they are demonstrating that improved student outcomes are possible for all students.

Read the 2026 Spark Change Awards Press Release: HERE

View the 2026 Spark Change Awards Program One-Pager: HERE

Learn more about Changemakers New Mexico at nmchangemakers.org and connect with Changemakers on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

On this episode, we welcome Dominica Chavez, NewMexicoKidsCAN Advocacy Manager, as a co-host to discuss some of the biggest education stories happening in New Mexico! Together, Amanda and Dominica discuss New Mexico ranking 50th in education for the 10th year in a row by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, marking a decade of last place, a new Legislative Finance Committee report on extended learning and student achievement, and back-to-school tips for families.

Download NewMexicoKidsCAN’s Back-to-School Toolkit here.

Read the Legislative Finance Committee Progress Report here.

Explore the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book here

In the Season 6 premiere of New Mexico Rising, host Amanda Aragon, Executive Director of NewMexicoKidsCAN, is joined by returning guest Dominica Chavez to break down the latest state assessment results. Together, they dig into what the data reveals about student progress in reading, math, and science and what it means for schools across New Mexico. From encouraging gains to detailed analysis, join Amanda and Dominica to unpack the numbers and celebrate success that #ProgressIsPossible.

Stay tuned for rapid-fire fun as Dominica answers questions about her favorite hot air balloon, fall traditions, and—of course—the best way to freeze green chile.

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HAVE A QUESTION YOU WANT US TO ANSWER ON THE PODCAST?

Submit your questions here: bit.ly/AskNMRising

Have you heard of the Mississippi Miracle? The Mississippi Miracle refers to the dramatic gains Mississippi has made in K-12 literacy outcomes since 2013. Through strategic policy implementation focused on evidence-based literacy instruction, Mississippi rose from

49th in 4th-grade reading to 9th in 2024! Once ranked near the bottom alongside New Mexico, Mississippi's approach has become a national model for educational reform.

Recently, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce hosted Carey Wright, former Mississippi State Superintendent and architect for the Mississippi Miracle (or Mississippi Marathon as she calls it) for a luncheon. Guests heard all about how Mississippi accomplished this incredible feat.

In this episode, Dominica and Amanda recap the event and we try something new! After Amanda and Dominica recap Dr. Wright’s remarks we share reflections from other attendees to hear their takeaways. Tune and let us know what you think!

Trey Smith, Executive Director of East Mountain High School, a public charter school located in the east mountains joins Amanda for a conversation about what makes East Mountain successful. Together, Trey and Amanda discuss the history of East Mountain, charter school authorizing, school accountability  and Trey previews the timeline of the brand new East Mountain Middle School. 

Learn more about East Mountain High School here: 

https://www.eastmountainhigh.net/

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New Mexico Vistas

Want to learn how your school measures up in New Mexico’s school accountability system? Visit nmvistas.org to see your schools proficiency rates, growth scores and more! 

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Sign up for the New Mexico Summer Reading Challenge

New Mexico's Summer Reading Program is an innovative free program set to empower students from incoming kindergarteners to outgoing eighth graders with focused reading instruction in small groups with trained literacy instructors.

Sign up here: https://nmsummerreading.org/

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WE NEED QUESTIONS! Have a question about education in New Mexico? We’d love to answer it in our next episode. Submit a question for us to answer on the podcast here: bit.ly/AskNMRising

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The 2025 New Mexico Legislative session has adjourned. Join Amanda for a conversation with Matt Pahl, Executive Director of Public Charter Schools of New Mexico and Dominica Chavez, NewMexicoKidsCAN’s own Advocacy Manager. Together the three discuss this year’s legislative session and how education was addressed, or not addressed for that matter. Tune in to hear the highs, the lows, and everything in between! 

Read NewMexicoKidsCAN’s Post Legislative Session Press Release: 

https://mailchi.mp/818dec20094d/press-statement-2025nmleg-sb242-tabled-14192072?e=d642e5b038

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Sign up for the New Mexico Summer Reading Challenge New Mexico's Summer Reading Program is an innovative free program set to empower students from incoming kindergarteners to outgoing eighth graders with focused reading instruction in small groups with trained literacy instructors.

Sign up here: https://nmsummerreading.org/

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Interested in learning more about the "Honesty Gap" - which is the difference in state reported proficiencies and proficiency rates on NAEP? Check out the analysis by the Collaborative for Student Success:

https://forstudentsuccess.org/latest-honesty-gap-analysis-shows-parents-continue-to-be-misled-about-student-academic-performance/

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WE NEED QUESTIONS! Have a question about education in New Mexico? We’d love to answer it in our next episode. Submit a question for us to answer on the podcast here: bit.ly/AskNMRising

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Michael Franco and Kristin Algier from TNTP join Amanda to talk about their latest report, The Opportunity Makers. ​​In schools across the country, far too many students fall behind academically, and most who fall behind stay behind. If we don’t accelerate learning at scale, millions of students may never catch up. But that doesn’t have to be the case. The Opportunity Makers tells the stories of trajectory-changing schools, where students average 1.3 years of learning, and have maintained that growth for a decade.  Tune into to hear what these schools have in common, and how communities and states can scale the practices of these trajectory changing schools. 

Read The Opportunity Makers here: 

https://tntp.org/publication/the-opportunity-makers/

Read The Opportunity Myth here: 

https://tntp.org/publication/the-opportunity-myth

*and don’t forget to tune into our episode about the Opportunity Myth (Semester 3, Episode 1)

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WE NEED QUESTIONS! Have a question about education in New Mexico? We’d love to answer it in our next episode. Submit a question for us to answer on the podcast here: bit.ly/AskNMRising

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