Minnesota math scores: good but not best

Minnesota's students are near the best in the country at math, according to test results released Wednesday. But a closer look reveals several areas of concern, raising the question: Is being among the best in the United States good enough?

The good news is that the state's fourth-graders are statistically tied for first place with those in four other states, and the state's eighth-graders are second only to counterparts in Massachusetts, according to the 2009 "Nation's Report Card," also called the National Assessment of Education Progress.

But the state's larger-than-average gap persists between the achievement of white students and those of color. And average scores for all students haven't gone up significantly in recent years, a troubling notion for companies such as Cargill, 3M and Medtronic, which are pumping money into teacher training, trying to improve the skills of their future workforce.

"If you look at where the U.S. is in relation to other countries in math, we're amongst the best of a mediocre country," said Jim Bartholomew, education policy director for the Minnesota Business Partnership. "There is a concern that we don't have enough of the needed people in the pipeline."

Said Eric Jolly, president of the Science Museum of Minnesota: "We should be pleased with the number of students who are proficient in mathematics. We should be displeased with the achievement gap and the fact that the fastest growing segment of our demographics," -- students of color -- "is lagging behind."

Six thousand students from 300 Minnesota schools were tested. The math and reading tests are administered every two years. Reading results will be released next year.

The results showed that 53 percent of the state's fourth-graders and 47 percent of eighth-graders were proficient or better in math.

'Things have not changed'

"I'm generally very pleased with the results," said Alice Seagren, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education, who pointed out that despite the achievement gap, students of color performed better here than elsewhere.

Seagren attributed the good showing to better math instruction in recent years. The state has aligned its math standards to international norms and set up math and science teacher academies. School districts have been pushed to improve science, technology, engineering and math offerings.

Last year, Minnesota's fourth- and eighth-graders were found to be near the top of the world in math and science on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Students in only four of 36 countries outperformed Minnesotans in fourth-grade math, and only five of 49 countries did better in eighth-grade math.

"That shows that we can and have been doing much better," Bartholomew said, "but what do we need to do to continue that success?"

In the results released Wednesday, the average score of fourth- and eighth-graders in Minnesota improved by 2 points over 2007, a difference that is not statistically significant.

"I think it's a very serious message to hear, that things have not changed," said Tracy Bibelnieks, an associate professor of mathematics at Augsburg College and the director of the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League.

While 94 percent of white fourth-graders scored at or above the basic level, only 66 percent of black fourth-graders did so. The 28 percentage-point difference is down from 30 points in 2007. The eight-grade gap also narrowed by 2 percentage points, from 38 in 2007 to 36 this year.

From 1990 to 2000, the metro area's proportion of residents of color nearly doubled, to 15 percent, according to the Brookings Institution. And by 2020, the region will have to replace 350,000 highly educated baby boomers who retire.

'Can't call it enough'

The report card showed that the performance of the nation's fourth-graders has not changed significantly in math since 2007. Eighth-graders reached the highest score since 1990. None of the nationwide achievement gaps narrowed.

Kent Pekel, executive director of the college readiness consortium at the University of Minnesota, said students who scored at the "advanced level," -- roughly one in 10 -- should be "very much on track to be college-ready by the end of high school," and the students who were "proficient" -- roughly 4 in 10 -- have a "solid reason to be confident."

He said that only 57 percent of Minnesota's class of 2009 who took the ACT had scores showing they are ready for college algebra.

Jolly said that policymakers need to make sure math and science education improve in the near future.

"These test scores are a success that any other state would like to have," Jolly said. "We just can't call it enough."

Emily Johns • 612-673-7460