What is math and reading proficiency at Minnesota’s award-winning schools?
The U.S. Department of Education has recognized seven Minnesota schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2024. The recognition is awarded to schools across the country based on overall academic performance and/or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. The U.S. Department will formally recognize the schools during an awards ceremony on Nov. 7 and 8 in Washington, D.C. Schools are only eligible for the award once within a five-year period.
Schools are nominated for these recognitions — public schools are nominated by a state’s Chief State School Officer (CSSO), which for Minnesota is the commissioner of education, and private schools by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). The U.S. Department of Education determines the number of CSSO nominations per state, based on the number of K-12 students and schools in each state. Minnesota’s is set at eight. The cap for private school nominations nationwide is set at 50. A total of 420 schools may be nominated each year.
For public school eligibility, “at least one-third of the public schools nominated by each state must be schools with a high percentage of students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” according to the U.S. Department of Education. “What constitutes ‘disadvantaged backgrounds’ is defined by the CSSO of each state. ‘High percentage’ generally means at least 40 percent of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Upon nomination, each school submits a “comprehensive application detailing its school culture, programs, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership, family, and community involvement,” according to the Minnesota Department of Education. Schools are then provided with feedback and “are given an opportunity to modify and improve their application before final submission,” according to the U.S. Department of Education. The assessment of the nominated school coming from the school itself (versus an independent third party) has been a criticism of the program over the years.
Here are the Minnesota schools selected to represent the state’s most “Exemplary High Performing Schools,” as measured by state assessments. (Nominations were based on state assessment results from the 2022-2023 school year.)
Exemplary High Performing Schools
Caledonia High School, Caledonia school district
- Reading proficiency: 56 percent; math proficiency: 52 percent (spring 2023 results)
- Eleven out of 25 students (44 percent) not meeting grade-level reading standards and 12 out of 25 (48 percent) not meeting grade-level math standards
The high school’s reading proficiency has been over 50 percent for the past several years, which is higher than the statewide average. Math proficiency has fluctuated more, with spring 2023 data significantly higher than spring 2022 (when 32 percent of students were proficient) and the most recent data, spring 2024, back down at 39 percent.
Chippewa Middle School, Mounds View school district
- Reading proficiency: 70 percent; math proficiency: 65 percent (spring 2023 results)
- Six out of 20 students (30 percent) not meeting reading standards and seven out of 20 (35 percent) not meeting math standards
With over 1,000 students assessed, this school represents the largest student body in this year’s award pool (the other schools have, on average, a couple hundred of students). The proficiency percentages have remained fairly constant over the last handful of years.
Hills-Beaver Creek Secondary School, Hills-Beaver Creek school district
- Reading proficiency: 60 percent; math proficiency: 64 percent (spring 2023 results)
- Eight out of 20 students (40 percent) not meeting grade-level reading standards and nine out of 25 students (36 percent) not meeting grade-level math standards
The secondary school’s reading proficiency has remained fairly constant over the last handful of years, with math proficiency fluctuating more — spring 2023 data was significantly higher than 2022 data, when proficiency was at 47 percent, and 2024 data has proficiency down, at 56 percent.
Pioneer Elementary School, Pierz school district
- Reading proficiency: 69 percent; math proficiency 74 percent (spring 2023 results)
This elementary school has posted successive proficiency improvements in both reading and math over the last handful of years — 2024 results continued the upward trajectory, with reading proficiency at 70 percent and math proficiency at 79 percent.
Here is the Minnesota school recognized in the “Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools” category, as measured by the narrowing of achievement gaps between different student groups and the overall student body.
Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School
James Knoll Elementary School, Ortonville school district
- Reading proficiency: 65 percent; math proficiency: 73 percent (spring 2023 results)
This elementary school increased its proficiency from 2022 to 2023 in both reading (60 percent to 65 percent) and math (64 percent to 73 percent), but its 2024 proficiency has dropped to 56 percent in reading and 64 percent in math.
Its student body is primarily white (88 percent), followed by seven percent Hispanic, three percent two or more races, and two percent American Indian. But 2023 proficiency data for non-white student subgroups wasn’t available due to student counts being too small to report for privacy reasons, so I couldn’t track exact changes in the school’s achievement gap. Data from 2022 showed that 36 percent of the school’s Hispanic students were reading and doing math at grade level.
Here are the Minnesota schools recognized in the two categories, which, according to the Minnesota Department, is the first year a Minnesota school has been honored for both high performance and closing achievement gaps.
Exemplary High Performing & Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools
Franklin Elementary School, Mankato school district
- Reading proficiency: 72 percent; math proficiency: 82 percent (spring 2023 results)
The achievement gap between white and Hispanic student math proficiency was seven percentage points in 2023, down from 17 percentage points in 2022. For reading, the gap between white and Hispanic student achievement narrowed from 26 percentage points in 2022 to 21 percentage points in 2023. Unfortunately, the gaps have started to widen again, based on 2024 results, with Hispanic student proficiency in both reading and math down from the previous year and white student proficiency ticking up slightly.
The reading achievement gap between white and black students was significantly narrowed from 2022 to 2023, despite white student proficiency declining slightly, as black student reading proficiency increased from 49 percent to 63 percent. A slight decline in black student reading proficiency from 2023 to 2024 and a slight increase in white student proficiency has widened the gap from the previous year by about five percentage points. The math achievement gap is also wider now than it was under 2023 results by about eight percentage points.
Oakwood Elementary School, Wayzata school district
Reading proficiency: 67 percent; math proficiency: 73 percent (spring 2023 results)
The reading achievement gap between white students and black students narrowed significantly from 2022 to 2023 results, closing about 10 percentage points — the number of white students meeting grade-level reading standards declined (from 76 percent to 72 percent) while black student reading proficiency increased from 34 percent to 40 percent. With white student reading proficiency declining again in 2024 and black student proficiency dropping slightly, the achievement gap remains about the same from the previous year.
In math, the achievement gap widened in 2023 between white and black students despite both student groups’ proficiency increasing (white student proficiency grew more) but has closed some from 2023 to 2024 due to growth in black student proficiency from 33 percent to 49 percent.
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Given that, for the second year in a row, majorities of Minnesota students are not meeting grade-level reading or math proficiency, these schools’ results are certainly better than the state’s average and the student growth and/or achievement that is occurring is worth celebrating.
But there is still a considerable number of students being left behind in schools identified as Minnesota’s best. “When at least 30 percent of the students at several of these Blue Ribbon Schools can’t read proficiently, one has to wonder if many students at lesser-performing schools are just getting passed along…” writes Annie Holmquist for Opportunity for All Kids.