New Mexico's two new extended learning time programs will see around 60% of students spending more time in school next year.

According to KFOX 14, the Public Education Department is expecting nearly 191,000 out of 317,000 students enrolled to participate. The Extended Learning Time Program that is geared at boosting "academic achievement and test scores, or reducing learning loss, learning gaps, and achievement gaps."

"These are local-control decisions, and we respect that,” Deputy Education Secretary Katarina Sandoval, who oversees the extended learning time programs, said as reported by KFOX 14. “We heard from a number of districts that their people, educators, students and families, are just exhausted after this pandemic year, but that in a year, they’ll be in. We’re looking forward to even more participation next year.”

Schools can either participate in the K-5 Plus program or the Extended Learning Time Program, and the New Mexico legislature has already appropriated an additional $80 million for the programs. 

"The purpose of K–5 Plus is to demonstrate that increased time in kindergarten and the early grades narrows the achievement gap between at-risk students and other students, increases cognitive skills and leads to higher test scores for all participants," a New Mexico Public Education Department factsheet explained. 

With the K-5 Plus program, an additional 25 days of school are added to the academic calendar, while the Extended Learning Time Program adds 10 days.

The 2021 Legislature also funded a two-year pilot project called K-5 Plus Pilot 140 where selected high-poverty and low-performing schools will add a minimum of 10 Extended Learning Time Program days, or 45 minutes each day, KFOX 14 reported.