How does a parent’s education level impact Minnesota student achievement?

January 30, 2026

Student performance data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the nation’s most widely recognized benchmark of academic achievement, measuring reading and math in 4th and 8th grade and allowing results to be analyzed across states and student groups. (American Experiment does this often!)

What isn’t always highlighted in news headlines is that NAEP data allows researchers to compare student outcomes by other factors, such as parental education level. This is collected from 8th graders in states with sufficient data.

A pattern remains true regardless of overall state performance: Students with at least one college-educated parent tend to score higher on average than students whose parents did not finish college (which includes those who did not finish high school, those who graduated high school, and those who completed some education after high school).

The size of the gap varies, but the direction does not. Even states that routinely post some of the country’s highest average NAEP scores show substantial difference between these two groups of students, suggesting that strong statewide performance has not eliminated disparities tied to family educational background.

As my colleague Josiah Padley wrote here, recent NAEP cycles show that achievement declines have been steepest among lower-performing students — a group that overlaps heavily with students whose parents did not attend or complete college.

So how does the American education system raise overall achievement without leaving large segments of students behind? In a number of states, policymakers point to early literacy initiatives, tutoring programs, and expanded academic supports as tools to counterbalance differences in family background, such as parental educational attainment.

But what about differences in the structure of the family itself? Research shows that single parents are less likely to hold a college degree than married parents. Single parents also more often start college but don’t complete their degree, for varying reasons such as juggling work and childcare with fewer resources and less support, which make completing higher education harder. (Important nuance: Not all single parents have lower education — there are many single parents with bachelor’s degrees or higher.)

This divide in student performance based on parental education level is a complicated problem stemming from a mix of factors that the NAEP data suggests no state has fully solved, albeit certain states have considerably smaller gaps than the rest of the nation.

Minnesota’s breakdown

Compared with other states, Minnesota’s achievement gaps by parental education level are about in the middle of the pack, with a 24-point difference in 8th grade math and a 19-point difference in 8th grade reading between students with college-educated parents and those without.

How do Minnesota’s average NAEP score results, broken down by parental education level, rank among states? I outline a few findings below, with range plots available for the full comparisons.

One of the more striking results emerges in 8th grade reading. Minnesota students with college-educated parents lag the national average reading scores for this group, and neighboring states Wisconsin and Iowa also post higher scores than Minnesota.

Results shift when looking at students whose parents did not graduate college. Among 8th graders in this group, Minnesota’s average reading score is above the national average but trails neighboring Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Mississippi also scored higher than Minnesota in this category.

Eighth grade math results tell a somewhat stronger story for Minnesota. Students with college-educated parents posted an average score near the top of the rankings for this category, though still below Wisconsin. The same holds true for students whose parents did not graduate college — Minnesota ranks among the top states but again falls short of Wisconsin.

Where do we go from here?

As states work on improving their overall academic performance, closing these gaps will also require attention. Promising, pragmatic steps states have been taking include strengthening early literacy (such as implementing phonics-based reading programs for early grades such as Orton-Gillingham or science of reading aligned curricula), maintaining rigorous standards and consistent academic expectations, and ensuring that students have access to the learning environment that best meets their needs.

At the same time, family structure and stability play an important — if complex — role in student achievement. While education policy alone cannot address family breakdown, policies that strengthen parental involvement, reduce bureaucratic barriers to educational services, and reinforce the connection between families and schools could help serve as part of a practical path forward to address Minnesota’s long-standing achievement gaps.