(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A recent report revealed that at least 10 schools throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul Public School Districts have zero students who tested as proficient in math during the 2021-2022 school year.
Throughout 19 different school districts in the state, there are no proficient math students according to standardized testing results. Several elementary schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul districts do not have any students meeting grade level expectations, the Daily Caller reported.
“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,” the report from the Center of the American Experiment reads. “On national assessments, Minnesota reading and math scores are the lowest they have been in 30 years.”
Of the schools included in the report, six were traditional public schools, two were online public schools, and 11 were public charter schools. One of the public schools was also lacking in students proficient in reading, the Daily Caller reported.
The COVID lockdowns are taking the lion’s share of blame for the historic learning loss, but some are also blaming the record low numbers on student’s declining mental health.
“When I think about kids in mental health, I think of it as the great problem, the problem that needs to be solved before we can really address anything else,” said Damion Smith, who works as a school psychologist in the state. “Kids going through mental health crisis are unable to learn.”
The CAE report points out that scores were in decline long before the pandemic.
“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,” the report reads.
Test scores are in decline across the nation, with every state seeing massive drops in math and reading scores throughout all grades levels.
