New Mexico launches $9M at-home reading initiative for students in grades K-3

New Mexico this week starts sending what will be more than 750,000 books to thousands of students in grades K-3 as part of a new at-home reading initiative to help with the state’s literacy goals.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 37, also known as the High Quality Literacy Instruction Act, into law in March. SB37 aims to improve literacy outcomes by requiring schools to adopt a pedagogy known as “structured literacy,” a method that uses phonics, vocabulary and comprehension. The bill specifically requires instructional materials to align with structured literacy standards; assessing K-3 students for reading difficulties; and supporting students with such difficulties at home and in school.

The book distribution, announced last week by the New Mexico Public Education Department, will provide “Take-Everywhere Literacy” packs for an estimated 80,000 K-3 students statewide for the 2026-2027 school year. 

Education officials say the books in the literacy packs, developed by the company Just Right Reader, are tailored to match students’ developing reading skills, as well as writing activities and a QR code on the back for video phonics lessons —  available in English, Spanish and more than a dozen additional languages — that families can use for at-home teaching. The state paid Just Right Reader nearly $9 million for the packs, PED spokesperson Janelle Taylor García told Source NM, approximately $119 per student.  

“Teachers identify the skills that are working for students and where they need support and then the books are packed specifically for each kiddo,” Amanda DeBell, PED deputy secretary of teaching, learning and innovation, told Source NM. The literacy packs, “look like a present almost, but it is the gift of books and the gift of reading.” Teachers will develop an individualized family literacy plan for each K-3 student, PED added in a news release, and will update the plan four times during the school year to adjust for student reading progression, along with another literacy pack. 

PED wanted to “ensure that students are practicing reading at home and that their families also have a way to support,” DeBell said. “This opportunity with the reading plans will allow them to work side by side with their classroom teacher.” 

Though New Mexico students improved by 10 percentage points in literacy proficiency between 2022 and 2026, “we know that we still have a long way to go,” DeBell said. She added that there is “a lot of excitement from classroom teachers” about the initiative, and with books set to arrive this week, she expects to hear positive impacts from families soon.

“I’m sure that we will hear from our families that their students are practicing, that they are becoming better readers and that will translate into us developing better scholars as the kids grow up and into the next grade,” DeBell said.