HOUSE MEMORIAL 53

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Tara L. Lujan and Yanira Gurrola and G. Andrés Romero

and Debra M. Sariñana

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO STUDY THE CREATION OF A "GIFTED IN-FIELD" ENDORSEMENT FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL GIFTED EDUCATION TEACHERS.

 

     WHEREAS, the needs of gifted students attending secondary school, who are ready for greater independence and development of their talents and expertise in specific areas of study, are often substantially different from those of gifted students attending elementary school; and

     WHEREAS, while gifted students at the secondary school level can benefit from beginning to develop expertise through accelerated coursework delivered from sources such as dual enrollment, advanced placement and the international baccalaureate, those programs often do not consistently address the social, emotional, creative and leadership development needs of those students; and

     WHEREAS, rules promulgated by the public education department require teachers obtaining a gifted education endorsement to have demonstrated competency to deliver content area instruction to gifted students from a position of expertise, to apply pedagogy appropriate to the content area being taught and to apply higher-level thinking and meta-cognitive models to those content areas; and

     WHEREAS, the public education department's rules require that individual education programs for gifted students in the state produce advanced outcomes, develop the strengths and interests of gifted students and address other educational needs; and

     WHEREAS, the public education department's rules allow students to be identified as gifted in a wide range of fields, including all subject areas for which educational standards for students have been adopted, but teachers with gifted education endorsements often do not possess content expertise in all of those subject areas; and

     WHEREAS, the public education department currently allows special education teachers without expertise or endorsement in gifted education to teach gifted education classes because of an ongoing lack of gifted education teachers; and

     WHEREAS, secondary school teachers with advanced knowledge in a subject area in addition to knowledge about the needs of gifted learners could provide advanced instruction to students with advanced readiness who are not identified as gifted;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public education department be requested to collaborate with the state's public post-secondary educational institutions and gifted education organizations to study the creation of a "gifted in-field" endorsement for secondary school gifted education teachers and to consider courses available from the state's public post-secondary educational institutions and other criteria necessary to establish advanced content knowledge that could fulfill endorsement requirements for those teachers; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department be requested to study and evaluate criteria to determine the amount of expertise necessary in various subject areas for the state to develop a gifted in-field endorsement teacher workforce that can both deliver advanced coursework in various content areas and serve the needs of secondary school gifted students to develop expertise in those subject areas; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the public education department and the governor.

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