For years, education policymakers and practitioners in New Mexico have been striving to create a more meaningful and engaging high school experience. The Public Education Department (PED) has taken bold moves to rethink learning, its assessment system and funding structures.
Efforts such as the New Mexico Graduation Equity Initiative and the state’s Innovation Zone process have sparked change within schools and districts, but transformation hasn’t spread as quickly as the state has hoped. The question for policy leaders in New Mexico remained: How can we accelerate the shift toward a high school experience that truly prepares all learners for the future?
Bill highlights
Recognizing the need to accelerate high school transformation, New Mexico took a significant step forward in 2024 with the passage of House Bill 171 (HB171). This landmark legislation reshapes the state’s graduation requirements, reinforcing the vision of a more meaningful and personalized high school experience. A few key changes:
- Local education agencies are now required to develop a graduate profile. This profile establishes a shared vision for what students should know and know how to do by the time that they graduate.
- Through HB171, Next Step Plans must align to the local graduate profile. Created in eighth grade and revisited each year of high school by students, Next Step Plans have been around for decades and help map a learner’s academic journey and must reflect the priorities of local graduate profiles, creating a more cohesive and intentional path to graduation.
- The law kept the requirement of 24 units to earn a high school diploma, but introduced greater flexibility in how those credits can be attained. Coursework in career and technical education (CTE) and work-based learning can now count toward core academic credits in English, math or science, broadening opportunities for students to engage in real-world, hands-on learning.
- Some course requirements were changed. For example, Algebra II was removed while financial literacy is required to be offered as an elective. This reflects the needs and interests of New Mexico’s students.
- The law expanded local education agency flexibility to set some of the 24 required credits at the local level, ensuring that schools can tailor learning experiences to meet the needs of their communities.
- Perhaps the most significant change is the removal of the competency demonstration requirement, meaning students will now earn their diploma based solely on the completion of required coursework rather than additional assessments.
How the bill passed
The development and passage of HB171 offers a valuable model for developing legislation collaboratively with the community and offers several valuable lessons for other states undertaking similar work to transform their state graduation requirements. But policy change alone is not enough. The next challenge lies in translating these new opportunities into real, transformative experiences for students.
- New Mexico prioritized listening and being responsive to the needs of the education community instead of rushing legislative change. The state’s journey to updating its graduation requirements began in 2021 with a multi-year community engagement process, which heavily influenced HB171. Over the next two years, the Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC) engaged in extensive conversations with stakeholders, students, school officials, educators, higher education representatives and industry to refine a policy proposal. LESC also partnered extensively with PED and the executive throughout the process to ensure broad support.
- Consistent and meaningful conversations helped secure buy-in for HB171. LESC worked closely with local school officials to make sure that proposed policies were realistic and aligned to capacity realities at the local level. Higher education also had an opportunity to contribute to shaping diploma requirements, strengthening their connection to postsecondary pathways. And perhaps most importantly, the longer runway allowed LESC the time needed to build legislative understanding of the changes proposed in the bill so that when it was introduced, there was an understanding of its aims and why the changes were needed.
- Graduate profiles aren’t just a poster on the wall. To support schools across the state, PED is enlisting schools that have already developed a profile through the state’s Innovation Zone process to help those who are just beginning the process, as well as an as yet to be selected external development partner. The department also hosts monthly superintendent meetings to discuss, review and refine profiles currently in development to help improve them over time. PED is in the process of updating its administrative codes to align with the new statutory changes. Their early involvement in policy discussions is proving valuable in these efforts.
New Mexico’s experience offers a valuable blueprint to others seeking to build collaborative and transformative education policy. By engaging extensively with communities and stakeholders, the state crafted legislation that ensures effective implementation. This collaborative approach underscores the importance of building consensus to drive meaningful educational reform.
Six Tips for States Rethinking Graduation Requirements
Consider the following elements when rethinking graduation requirements:
- Establish a statewide model portrait of a graduate to support schools and districts seeking to define the knowledge and skills for their students to achieve future success
- Establish diploma pathways that give students multiple ways to earn a diploma, including at least one pathway with credit requirements that aligns to admissions in the state’s higher education institutions.
- Base credit attainment around proficiency of academic knowledge as defined in state standards or competencies, rather than seat time or traditional course requirements.
- Give local districts flexibility in awarding credit to make sure that they have clear statutory authority to award credit based on proficiency, rather than on seat time.
- Allow flexibility for experiences outside of traditional courses such as career and technical education or work-based learning to count for core credits.
- Establish higher education protections for students coming from schools that award credit based on mastery of competencies or academic standards to ensure that they are not disadvantaged when they engage with systems of higher education in areas such as admissions, financial aid, or course placement.
