New Mexico is enhancing the analytic capacity of legislative education staff to ensure high-quality, consistent, and impactful education policy analysis.
The Opportunity
The New Mexico legislature relies on timely, high-quality data analysis to inform education policy, monitor implementation, and evaluate impact. As Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC) staff conduct substantial analytic work, efforts to strengthen consistency, efficiency, and shared practice—particularly during the data analysis phase of the research and evaluation process—are valuable. Building analytic capacity and common workflows, for example, supports clearer interpretation of findings and ensures that strong evidence informs legislative decisionmaking.
The Support
The Southwest Comprehensive Center is partnering with LESC to provide individualized problem-of-practice technical assistance, a monthly analytic community of practice, and targeted resource development. Together, these approaches provide just-in-time support for active projects while reinforcing shared tools, methods, and analytic routines across staff.
Desired Outcomes
As a result of this work, LESC staff will apply more consistent and rigorous analytic practices across projects, with increased confidence in data preparation, analysis, and interpretation. LESC will benefit from clearer analytic workflows, stronger communication of findings, and an enhanced ability to use evidence to inform legislative priorities and resource decisions.