In at least 10 elementary and high schools located in Minnesota’s Minneapolis Public School District and St. Paul Public School District, not even one student was able to meet grade-level expectations for math during the 2021-2022 school year.
The troublesome revelations came out of a Wednesday report from the Center of the American Experiment, an organization specializing in state public policy.
BREAKING: In 19 public schools across the state, not a SINGLE STUDENT could do grade-level math during the 2021-22 school year. https://t.co/cIb55vbZeR
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) March 1, 2023
There were a reported 19 school districts in which not a single student met the desired level of proficiency in math on the 2022 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, a standardized test utilized by the state.
“As of the start of the 2022 school year, fewer than half of Minnesota students statewide are proficient in math (44.6 percent), and just under 50 percent can’t read at grade level,” wrote Catrin Wigfall, who authored the report. “On national assessments, Minnesota reading and math scores are the lowest they have been in 30 years.”
The 19 schools were all public: six of them traditional, two being held online, and eleven public charters. At one of the typical public schools, zero students were considered proficient in reading.
“Defenders of the current system will likely point to COVID as the driving reason, and while school closures certainly exacerbated learning loss, poor and declining student achievement showed itself way before the pandemic,” asserted Wigfall.
Randi Weingarten, who serves as president of the American Federation of Teachers, blamed the COVID-19 virus for causing the lowered scores back in October, adding, “The disruption was everywhere, and it was bad regardless of whether schools were remote or in person. We are focused now on the urgent need to help kids recover and thrive.”
Similar situations have been seen all around the country — a recent report from WBFF FOX45 Baltimore revealed that when tested this past spring in math, English, and science via the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, a shocking 70% of fifth-grade students did not score proficient. In other words, less than one out of three fifth graders met the standards.
A state delegate and former teacher who spoke with Fox45 referred to the scores as “abysmal numbers.”
