New Mexico school mixes grades for reading

A public school in Albuquerque is testing whether ignoring traditional grade boundaries improves reading outcomes for students.

The program, known as a literacy walk, has operated at Mountain Mahogany Community School for approximately two years. Since its implementation, the school reports a 20 percent increase in literacy proficiency. Current data from the state’s PED NM Vistas system places the school at 47 percent proficiency, a figure that exceeds both the local district and state averages.

Alexandra Wilcox, the structured literacy coach who introduced the initiative, said she developed the model after observing her own son struggle with reading in fourth grade. She noted that the approach shifted focus from grade-level expectations to individual student needs. Under this system, students in grades three through five spend 50 minutes each day in classrooms assigned based on their specific data profiles rather than their age or grade.

The instructional model varies class sizes to accommodate different learning speeds. Students who require intensive support receive one-on-one attention, while those who are excelling move to more rigorous curricula. The method involves breaking down words into prefixes, base words, and suffixes to teach decoding skills.

Steven Gonzales, an 11-year-old fifth grader at the school, joined Mountain Mahogany about a year and a half ago. He described his previous experience with reading as difficult. Since joining the program, he reported improvements in grammar, reading, writing, and punctuation usage. Wilcox identified Gonzales as a student who has succeeded in the new structure, noting that he now engages with new material daily instead of feeling bored.

Wilcox stated that the school is not treating the current 47 percent proficiency rate as a final goal. She aims for the program to serve as a model for other districts in New Mexico, allowing more students to not only learn to read but also to excel in the skill.