Many parents were understandably alarmed by this week's headlines that Minnesota student reading scores had "plummeted'' this year compared with 2012.
Turns out there's an understandable reason for the double-digit percentage drop. This year a new, more difficult test was given — in other words, the two sets of results were not an apples-to-apples comparison.
The test result confusion highlights an ongoing issue in Minnesota. For political and other reasons — some of them necessary and some not — there have been lots of changes in standardized tests over the years. It's time for the state to settle on strong education standards and exams — then stick with them long enough to make the results meaningful.
The newest round of results from annual statewide tests released this week by the Minnesota Department of Education showed the percentage of students in grades three through eight and 11 who were proficient in reading fell to 58 percent from 76 percent. In math, 61 percent of students who took the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) were proficient, down from 62 percent last year.
State Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius dismissed the significance of the results. "Our scores didn't go down," she said. "It's a new, more difficult test. … Our kids didn't get dumber in one year.''
Yet the dip makes a point about the state's overall approach to testing students. Since the mid-1990s, Minnesota has been changing standards and tests on what students learn and need to know.
Years ago, the state adopted an outcome-based education model, then shifted to the controversial Profiles of Learning assessment. After that, an eighth-grade basic skills test was put in place, only to be replaced by the current MCAs.
Earlier this year, legislators voted to scrap the Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD) exam, which students had to pass in order to graduate. It will be replaced with a series of tests beginning in eighth grade that will be more aligned with postsecondary requirements.
