Phase 1
Foundation
Research Informing Success in Education, New Mexico's Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS), is transforming how New Mexico uses data to improve educational and workforce outcomes. By matching and anonymizing data across state agencies from early childhood to the workforce, we are building a comprehensive and secure tool to drive more informed decision-making across the state. Students, families, policymakers, researchers, and other New Mexicans will be able to leverage RISE NM as they make educational and workforce decisions for themselves and others.
Laying the Foundation
Phase I of RISE NM ran from 2021 through 2024. This phase oversaw the design and development of the nation's first cloud-native SLDS.
Key Phase I Milestones
- Ingested 10 data sources from five partners into a shared cloud platform
- Matched and anonymized records across systems to improve usability and protect personally identifiable information
- Built a foundational and scalable data warehouse based on the Common Education Data Standards model
- Configured advanced security solutions to aid with threat detection, vulnerability scanning, and enhanced data security
- Created five data dashboards that provide foundational information about the cradle-to-career system
- Created information videos in both English and Spanish
Did You Know?
New Mexico is the first state in the nation to establish a cloud-native statewide longitudinal data system, setting a new benchmark for modern data infrastructure.
Data Collected in Phase I
Data Sources
During Phase I, RISE NM ingested data sources spanning from early childhood to workforce. These data sources provide a strong foundation for research into educational and workforce trends in New Mexico.
| Agency | Data Description |
|---|---|
| Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) | Data from teacher-led assessments on child development, well-being, and kindergarten readiness, as well as information on childcare enrollment, facilities, and staffing credentials, including New Mexico Pre-K. |
| Public Education Department (PED) | Comprehensive K-12 student, staff, and course data, including educator certification requirements and applications for teachers, administrators, and support staff. |
| Higher Education Department (HED) | Data from higher education institutions on enrollment, financial aid, out-of-state participation, as well as information on adult education programs. |
| Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) | Information on unemployment insurance claims, employer-reported wage data, and workforce services, including resources for job seekers, veterans, youth, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. |
| Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) | Data on referrals and participation in vocational rehabilitation programs for individuals with disabilities. |
Phase II
Expanding the Offerings
Now that RISE NM is up and running, we are ready to expand the system with new data and new functionality. Phase II work begins in early 2025 and will include a range of enhancements to the system, addressing common SLDS challenges that are seen in these systems across the country.
Phase II will include the following enhancements:
- Increase access for internal and external researchers and analysts
- Launch the Data Request Portal to allow external researchers to request access to RISE NM data
- Add new data sources from the partners
- Expand the research agenda, producing new reporting and visualizations
- Enable advanced analytics to increase the range of analytic and machine learning tools and offerings available to researchers, including incorporating predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence
- Engage in larger statewide data governance initiatives
What’s to Come
Continuing to Grow
RISE NM is a long-term data system and project that will continue to adapt to new challenges, emerging technologies, and shifting state priorities over time in order to meet data, policy, and research needs related to improving educational and workforce outcomes in New Mexico. RISE NM will continue to provide actionable insights to help families, students, educators, administrators, researchers, and policymakers as they explore the data available in the system.
As we move into the coming years, we expect to add new data systems and data partners, leverage new security technologies, explore new research use cases, provide a wider range of public reporting and visualizations, and test out new platform and analysis technologies. These strategic improvements will maintain RISE NM as a national standard for demonstrating SLDS capabilities.