Minnesota students’ reading and math scores on state proficiency tests have leveled off a bit, but they still haven’t recovered from a big dip during the pandemic, according to data released Thursday by the state education department.
As was the case last year, fewer than half of public school students met grade standards in reading, math and science, according to Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment results for 2024.
This year’s MCA results show that 45.5% of Minnesota students reached grade-level standards in math, the same as the year before. Reading scores also remained stable in 2024, with 49.9% of students testing as proficient.
Science, the lowest-scoring category at 39.6%, was up 0.4 percentage points from 2023. Last year it had dropped 2.1 percentage points. Like the other scores, it’s significantly down from before the pandemic. In 2019, about 50.7% were proficient in state science standards.
Asked about a long-term slide in scores that started before the pandemic and worsened during, Education Commissioner Willie Jett, who took his position in 2023, said test scores are just “one important way” the state measures school success.
“There are just so many different ways to measure academic achievement,” he said during a Thursday call with reporters from across the state, noting education officials also look at other metrics such as consistent attendance, graduation rates, and academic progress.
Scores remain down since pandemic
Statewide, scores are down significantly since the beginning of the pandemic, which education officials say presented a challenge for students and teachers as schools closed and students shifted to remote or hybrid learning. Reading and math are both down 8.4 percentage points from 2019.
Scores had already been sliding before the pandemic. On the 2014 MCA, 63% of students in grades three through eight were proficient in math and 59% were proficient in reading.
While scores have remained at or near lows reached during the pandemic, education officials said they were encouraged by the decline leveling out, as well as rising consistent attendance rates.
In the 2022-2023 school year, statewide consistent attendance grew to 74.5% from 69.8% the year before. But the rate remains significantly below where it sat before the pandemic.
Consistent attendance means students attending at least 90% of the time. Before the pandemic in 2019, around 85.4% of students were consistently attending school statewide.
State education officials say they think a major state funding increase from the 2023 legislative session, when the Democratic-Farmer-Labor-controlled state government boosted education funding by more than $2 billion and tied the formula to inflation, as well as other measures like new reading instruction standards and teacher recruitment, will turn around flagging schools.
“We’re working hard to put these new measures into place, and I think it’s going to be the long-term measures, many of which involve the large scale and systemic changes, that’s going to positively impact students for years to come,” Jett said. ”Schools all across the country have faced some unprecedented challenges the last few years, and I just believe we’ve made some progress.”
St. Paul schools
In St. Paul Public Schools, students’ overall scores had little change from those of last year. About 26% of students scored proficient in math, 34.1% were proficient in reading and 25.4% in science. The largest improvement from last year’s proficiency scores came in science with an increase of 1.4%.
SPPS Interim Superintendent John Thein said some schools are performing above pre-pandemic levels, but more needs to be done to make up for the drop in scores.
Thein said the district hopes new programs, including a new math curriculum in its second year and new literacy training for teachers required by the READ Act passed by the Legislature last year will make a difference in the coming years.
Achievement gap
Minnesota still has an achievement gap between students of different ethnicities. In past years, white students were about twice as likely to be proficient in math and reading than Black, Hispanic and American Indian students. Results this year only changed slightly, according to the state education department.
Minnesota reports the performance of 400,000 or so students around the state in August each year. Testing happens in the spring.
The state measures student proficiency in reading, math and science based on numbers from standardized tests including the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment and Minnesota Test of Academic Skills.
Students take the reading and math tests in third through eighth grades and once in high school so state education officials can gauge the success of schools. Science testing happens in fifth and eighth grades and once in high school.
They’re also used as part of a federal education accountability system that’s required under the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.
The test isn’t mandatory to advance in school. This year nearly 93% of students took the math test and nearly 95% took the reading tests. And in 2020 the state did not have the MCA as the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools. Before the pandemic participation rates were higher — in 2018 and 2019 around 98% of students took tests.
Other measures of school performance include academic progress, attendance and graduation rates in what’s called the “North Star Accountability System.” The state of Minnesota gives additional aid to schools that do poorly on those metrics.
Reaction to scores
Statewide teachers union Education Minnesota said new investments in education from the state will take time to be reflected in test scores, and that school districts are struggling with a shortage of qualified staff.
“Too many schools still lack sufficient mental health teams, class sizes are too large and too many students are missing too much school,” said union president Denise Specht. “The Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz have made historic investments in public education, and that will help. We’re on the right track, but not there yet.”
Republicans say there isn’t enough flexibility in how schools can use funding and used Thursday’s test scores to take aim at DFL policies.
“These test results are a warning to every parent that our kids are not getting what they need in the classroom,” said Sen. Julia Coleman, a Waconia Republican who is her party’s lead on the Senate Education Policy Committee. “Despite record increases in funding and better attendance, testing scores are stuck.”
Imani Cruzen contributed to this story.
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