Academic performance on the reading and math Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) is slightly down from last year, and more than half of public school students statewide remain below grade-level proficiency.
Newly released 2025 MCA results from the Minnesota Department of Education show 45.0 percent of students are meeting grade-level math standards (a drop from 45.3 percent in 2024) and 49.5 percent of students are meeting grade-level reading standards (a drop from 49.7 percent in 2024). Assessment results on all standards-based tests (which include alternate tests taken by students with the most significant cognitive disabilities) also dipped, going from 45.5 percent demonstrating math proficiency in 2024 to 45.2 percent and 49.9 percent demonstrating reading proficiency to 49.6 percent.
Third-grade reading proficiency on the MCA has dropped for the fifth consecutive year, with now over 54 percent of third graders not meeting grade-level standards.
The modest declines continue a pattern of academic achievement challenges that have existed pre- and post-COVID and mirror subpar performance on national reading and math assessments.
The Minnesota Department of Education’s news release on the new assessment data framed the 2025 MCA results as “stable” academic performance and that students are “on track for long-term gains” with the ongoing implementation of the Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act. During the 2023 legislative session the state overhauled its approach to literacy education, making evidence-based reading instruction a requirement for school districts, teachers, and the teacher preparation programs that prepare teacher candidates for the classroom.
“The impact of structured literacy education will be evaluated over time and will first begin showing in statewide reading assessments results as students progress through grades with fully trained teachers,” writes the department.
The majority of Minnesota students take the MCAs — the reading test is administered in grades 3-8 and grade 10 and the math test in grades 3-8 and grade 11. The number of students taking the tests in spring 2025 remained high, coming in at 95.6 percent participation for reading and 93.9 percent for math, the same as in 2024. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, students who do not take the MCA test are excluded from the assessment testing results and do not impact the MCA proficiency calculation.
For the state’s North Star accountability system, which identifies schools for targeted support to improve academic achievement, academic progress, consistent attendance and graduation rates over a three-year period, all students who do not participate in testing are counted in achievement calculations the same way as students who are not proficient. For academic progress calculations, students must have a valid test score to be included in the calculation, so a student who does not participate is not included.
Math/Reading Proficiency on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments and Per-Pupil Spending in Minnesota Public Schools
