(KNSI) – The Minnesota Department of Education is launching a new statewide program to support learning recovery after Friday’s release of the 2021 statewide assessments, which showed a significant drop in the number of students meeting or exceeding grade standards.
Students take the statewide reading assessments in grades 3-8 and 10. Of the students who took the reading assessments, 53% met or exceeded grade-level standards, down almost seven percentage points from 2019, the last year assessment tests were taken.
In math, 44% of students in grades 3-8 and 11 who took the assessments met or exceeded grade-level standards, down 11 percentage points from 2019.
The science assessments are given to students in grades five and eight and once in high school. In 2021, 43% of students who took the assessments met or exceeded grade-level standards, an eight percentage point drop from 2019.
ACCESS for ELLs measures students’ English language proficiency. Of the students who took the ACCESS for ELLs in 2021, 9% were proficient in English, a three percentage point decrease from 2019.
Students in the Sartell-St. Stephen School District scored above the state average in all three assessed categories. In reading, 65.2% of students met or exceeded grade standards. In math, 61.9% of District 748 kids met or exceeded standards, and 57.2% of kids met standards in science.
The St. Cloud Public School District’s assessments fell below the statewide average in all three subjects. District 748 had 38.1% of kids score at or above grade level in reading. In math, 26.9% of students assessed meet or exceed grade standards, and in science, 30.9% met or exceeded grade standards.
In the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District, students finished below the state average in all three subjects. District 47 had 51.2% of students meet or exceed the grade standards for reading. In math, 42.3% were at or above grade standards, and 39.7% of students met or exceeded standards in science.
“The statewide assessment results confirm what we already knew-that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our students’ learning and they need our help to recover,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Heather Mueller. “As we head into a new school year, MDE stands ready to partner with our educators, school leaders and staff as they work to accelerate learning and provide social-emotional and mental health support for our students.”
To combat the declining assessment scores, Minnesota has started the Collaborative Minnesota Partnerships to Advance Student Success (COMPASS) to further students’ academic, social-emotional and mental health needs as schools continue to deal with the pandemic.
COMPASS is a statewide program with support from MDE and the Minnesota Service Cooperatives and Regional Centers of Excellence. The two groups will focus on professional development on Minnesota’s Multi-Tiered System of Support; data analysis, and data literacy training; and
targeted support plans in the areas of literacy, math, and social-emotional learning.
Statewide assessments, which include the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs), Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS), ACCESS for ELLs (English language learners), and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. Minnesota’s data mirrors a trend seen across other states that have publicly released their assessment results.
Minnesota received a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education for the accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for 2020 and 2021. The next round of identification of schools for support and improvement under ESSA has been delayed until fall 2022.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!