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The Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now today released an analysis of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments for all public school students. Significant decline in reading scores confirms the bar for success on previous tests was set too low.
Download MinnCAN’s full analysis of the 2013 MCA results.
"These new test scores indicate a continued disturbing trend—the achievement gap between students of color and their white peers continues to grow,” said MinnCAN Executive Director Daniel Sellers. “This is especially concerning given our commissioner's goal of closing these gaps by 50 percent by 2017.”
"We're encouraged by the state's commitment to holding a high standard for our students on the new reading exams and we should celebrate the marked improvement for students on the 11th-grade math exams, where all subgroups saw increases in student proficiency. However, there's much more work to be done if we're going to ensure that all Minnesota students are college- and career-ready."
“These data are the reason why these assessments are so important: we need to know how all of our students are doing so we can strengthen our schools to meet their needs."
Highlights from MinnCAN’s analysis include:
- 57.8 percent proficient in reading. An 18.2 percentage point drop from last year.
- 34.7 percent of black students proficient in math in grades three through eight. 70 percent of white students are proficient revealing a 35.3 percentage point gap.
- In Minnesota’s largest district (Anoka-Hennepin) only 55.2 percent of 11th-graders are proficient in math.
- Minneapolis sees slight improvement in scores but more than 50 percent of students not proficient in reading and math.
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MinnCAN: Launched in January 2011, MinnCAN: The Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit education reform advocacy organization building a movement of Minnesotans with the political will to enact smart public policies so that every Minnesota child has access to a great public school.