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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Salazar

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-23-2006

HB 126

SHORT TITLE Middle School Teacher Science & Math Training

SB

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$250.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 25

Relates to:

SB 233

Expand Teacher Education Field Courses

HB 3 Education Appropriation Act

HB 9 WNMU Web-Based Teacher Preparation Program

HB 26 Santa Fe Teacher Science Instruction

HC 142 Building for Teacher Education and General Education for Northern New Mexico

State School in Espanola in Rio Arriba County

HB 160 Expand Teacher Education Field Courses

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 126 appropriates $250,000 from the general fund to provide a program at Northern

New Mexico State School, commonly known as Northern New Mexico Community College, to

train middle school teachers to improve their skills, technical knowledge and teaching techniques

in science, mathematics and technology so that they are better prepared to teach students in those

subjects.

House Bill 126 – Page

2

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of the fiscal year 2007 shall re-

vert to the general fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Public Education Department, this program reflects findings of the first Mathe-

matics and Science Education in New Mexico Town Hall/Summit, held in November 2005.

Northern New Mexico Community College (NNMCC) has partnered with the Northern New

Mexico Math and Science Academy (MSA) to conduct professional development for middle

school teachers.

The Northern New Mexico Math and Science Academy (MSA) program was started in 2000 by

the Northern New Mexico Council for Excellence in Education (NNMCEE) in partnership with

the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 2004-2005 the four MSA staff members worked with

over 70 teachers in 14 middle and elementary schools in five districts. This bill would fund the

sixth year of this professional development program. Evaluators have found that student

achievement has increased steadily for the students of teachers in the program.

Among the Town Hall/Summit recommendations implemented by MSA are that:

•

New Mexico’s middle school teachers must have deep content knowledge and effective

pedagogical skills to be competent instructors.

•

MSA focuses on standards-based education using research-based concepts and instruc-

tional strategies, assessment and data analysis.

•

MSA’s goal is to increase student achievement by improving teacher practice.

•

The middle school teachers’ program consists of intensive training during a three-week

summer institute; biweekly site-based meetings after school; cognitive coaching and

mentoring four to five times a year; development of individual reflective portfolios; and

bi-weekly online discussions with the whole MSA community.

Funding for the MSA teachers has been provided by the Legislature and private and corporate

donations.

The sum of $73,200 was appropriated for this program in Chapter 34, Laws of 2005 (Senate Bill

190.) The Legislative Finance Committee funding recommendation for fiscal year 2007 has in-

cluded this amount as a component of a block-grant appropriation to NNMC for special projects

expansion.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

This legislation addresses fiscal year 2007 performance measures centering on percentage of 8

th

grade students achieving proficiency in mathematics.

House Bill 126 – Page

3

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Duplicates SB 25

Relates to:

SB 233

Expand Teacher Education Field Courses

HB 3 Education Appropriation Act

HB 9 WNMU Web-Based Teacher Preparation Program

HB 26 Santa Fe Teacher Science Instruction

HC 142 Building for Teacher Education and General Education for Northern New Mexico

State School in Espanola in Rio Arriba County

HB 160 Expand Teacher Education Field Courses

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education pro-

grams within educational institutions within New Mexico have recently been high-lighted as is-

sues that are at the forefront of the New Mexico Federal Congressional Delegation’s funding and

legislative initiatives. While this proposed legislation deals with the development of these core

competencies within the teaching community, this is directly related to the overall goal of in-

creasing scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematical abilities of students within the state,

through increasing the ability of teachers to convey this knowledge to their students.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Funding will not be provided to Northern New Mexico State School to train middle school

teachers at the higher level. This could limit their skills, technical knowledge and teaching tech-

niques in science, mathematics and technology. The result of lowered teaching capability could

decrease student competency in critical mathematics, science and technical areas among students

and could result in a generally negative impact on comprehensive test results.

There is a clear relationship among low standards, mediocre curriculum, undereducated teaching

professionals and poor educational results. The critical element in student achievement has been

shown to be teacher quality and high-quality curriculum. Recent data indicates that the percent

of classes taught by highly qualified teachers at the middle school level is approximately 76%.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

How are these funds to be administered.

Will this administration incur additional costs.

PD/nt