Minnesota’s K-12 public school math and reading scores remain largely unchanged since the COVID 19-era drop, according to newly released data from the state Education Department. Student performance stabilized but still came in below levels prior to the pandemic.
Overall, statewide reading scores this year showed 49.9 percent of students meeting or beating the state’s proficiency-level grade standard, the same mark as in 2023.
Math was a similar story, with 45.5 percent of students tested meeting the standard this year, the same as last.
Performance remained flat in two closely watched categories — third grade reading and eighth grade math.
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The percentage of third graders considered proficient in reading came in at 46.5 percent, down slightly from 2023 and significantly lower than 54.6 percent in 2019, the year before COVID.
Forty-one percent of eighth graders were counted as math proficient this year, up slightly from about 40 percent the prior three years and down significantly from 55 percent in 2019.
Results for student groups by race and ethnicity changed only slightly between 2023 and 2024, the department added.
State education officials noted that school attendance rates did improve — about 75 percent of students were attending school consistently in 2023, up from 70 percent the prior year. Student attendance and achievement are strongly linked, and attendance rates took a big hit during the pandemic.
Officials released the achievement and attendance data publicly Thursday morning and are expected to speak to the data later in the day. They noted that lawmakers significantly have increased K-12 spending over the past year or so and said the impact of that spending would be seen in coming years.
“We need all students to succeed and thrive in school,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett said in a statement accompanying Thursday morning’s data release. “Statewide assessment and accountability data are an important part of a broader set of measures that tell our schools and families how students are doing and guide MDE in planning how to best support our school communities.”
Students take statewide reading and math assessments known as the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (or Minnesota Test of Academic Skills for students with cognitive disabilities) annually in grades three through eight, plus grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for math.
Science assessments are administered in grades five and eight, and once in high school. Of those students who took science assessments this year, 40 percent met proficiency standards for their grade.
Minnesota schools have long struggled with some of the worst disparities in the country between white students and students of color. This year’s test results show that those achievement gaps remain. Gaps can also be found in the results of students from lower-income and higher-income households.
Officials have worried especially about the mental health of children during and after the pandemic. Nearly a third of Minnesota students responding to the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey acknowledged they were struggling with long-term mental health problems, higher than at any other time in the history of the survey, which began in 1989.
Caution around conclusions
States around the country have reported COVID-driven drops similar to what’s been seen in Minnesota. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — often called the nation’s report card — have shown plunging performance on math and reading.
Minnesota students scored higher than students in other states in math and slightly higher in reading in the most recent NAEP exams. The state also tracks graduation rates, which have rebounded to pre-pandemic highs.
The MCA tests are very low-stakes for students, which can often lead to lower scores. Families can also opt out. In 2024, 93 percent of students participated in math tests and 95 percent participated in reading tests, state officials said.
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Publish date : 2024-08-28 18:01:00
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