New Mexico is now officially the nineteenth state to have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards. On November 14, 2017, the New Mexico Register (containing the state's administrative rules) was updated to specify that the NGSS, along with six New-Mexico-specific additions, would be the New Mexico STEM-ready science standards.
As NCSE previously reported, New Mexico was embroiled in controversy after the Public Education Department proposed the adoption of a set of standards modeled on the performance expectations of the NGSS, but revised to weaken their treatment of evolution, climate change, and the age of the earth.
The proposal was generally unpopular, with scientific, educational, environmental, business, and faith groups across the state expressing their opposition. Ultimately, the Public Education Department capitulated, expressing its intention to adopt the NGSS in their entirety with the addition of the six New-Mexico-specific standards.
With the publication of the new rules, that intention was fulfilled. In adopting the NGSS, New Mexico joins Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.