MinnCAN is a part of 50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now.

We’re focused on a Minnesota where all students excel in rigorous and relevant schools. Learn more about our impact across the state.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Today MinnCAN: The Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now released its annual ‘State of Minnesota Public Education’ report, a comprehensive and interactive data resource on Minnesota’s public schools. Covering everything from student achievement to school spending, pre-K access to college readiness, the report serves as an annual overview of public education in the state.

Click here to read the full report.

The report shows that academic gaps between students of color and their white peers remain stubbornly wide, and reveals a striking lack of diversity in Minnesota’s teaching force:

  • On the 2014 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, black fourth-graders trailed white students by 35 percentage points in both math and reading. Latino children trailed their white peers by 32 points in math and 34 points in reading.
  • In 2014, 44 percent of white students who took the ACT met all four college readiness benchmarks, more than four times the rate for black students.
  • 96 percent of Minnesota teachers are white, compared to 71 percent of the student body.

Despite these gaps, some progress has been made:

  • In 2014, Minnesota’s four-year high school graduation rate was the highest it’s been in five years.
  • Between 2003 and 2013, achievement on the Nation’s Report Card improved across the board for Minnesota’s elementary students. In math, the proficiency rate for fourth-grade black students increased by 16 percentage points and Asian students by 25 percentage points.

For more information, explore the full report.

“This report is a one-stop-shop for parents, teachers, policymakers and everyday Minnesotans who are looking for clear, objective information on how our schools are doing,” said MinnCAN Executive Director Daniel Sellers. “During the 2015 state legislative session, we must look at where our schools are struggling most, learn from communities that are changing the odds for students of color and low-income students and work together to usher in meaningful change to strengthen opportunities for all Minnesota children. The data in this report can help guide our decisions and priorities—for example, increasing teacher diversity by streamlining how we license out-of-state teachers.”

For more information on MinnCAN, or for interviews with Daniel Sellers, contact Ariana Kiener: 612-666-3066 or ariana.kiener@minncan.org.

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About MinnCAN: Launched in 2011, MinnCAN: The Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now is an education advocacy nonprofit. MinnCAN is a movement of nearly 12,000 Minnesotans–and growing–dedicated to creating the political will to enact smart public policies to ensure that every Minnesota child has access to a great public school. Learn more at www.minncan.org.

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