st. PAUL — The number of her K-12 students in Minnesota continues to decline in the number of students meeting grade-level reading standards, according to her 2022 statewide assessment scores from the State Department of Education. increase.

As reading skills continue to decline, less than half of Minnesota students who took the state’s standardized tests were proficient in math and science in 2022. This is a trend that started after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education Commissioner Heather Mueller said recent trends could be seen as “disappointing” but her department is committed to working with student staff and families to help students recover. He added that he was dedicated.

“This is the first time our state and others have had to navigate a global pandemic and navigate our children’s education in different ways,” Mueller said on Thursday, Aug. 25. told reporters released by the state. That 2022 test result.

In 2019, 55% of Minnesota students were proficient in math. It will drop to 44.8% in 2022. Reading, meanwhile, continues its downward trend from 59.2% in 2019 to 51.1% in 2022.

Each year, Minnesota reports the performance of nearly 400,000 students in the state through the Minnesota Report Card. The state measures students’ proficiency in reading, math, and science based on numbers on standardized tests such as the Minnesota Overall Assessment and the Minnesota Academic Skills Test. Reading and math tests begin in her junior year and continue through high school. Science tests are taken from her 5th grade through her 8th grade, during which students take life science or biology courses in high school.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer students have participated in annual assessment tests. In 2018 and her 2019, approximately 98% of students took state assessment tests.

The state did not provide data summaries of student test results in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the number of students assessed in math will drop by nearly 80% when testing resumes in 2021. did. That year, the state offered a waiver of the testing requirement. This year, the participation rate has returned to around 93%.

Participation in testing increased from 2021 to 2022, but overall participation remains down from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Mueller said Minnesota and other states had lower participation rates and less reliable data. But with participation rising again, Mueller said 2022 will provide the first new data that can be accurately compared to pre-pandemic figures.

As the state education department announced new test numbers on Thursday, it also announced plans to provide strong support to 371 public schools over the next three years. Minnesota identifies schools in need of support through indicators such as achievement levels and attendance. The other 64 schools identified as needing additional support in 2018 but improved in 2022 will also continue to receive support.

The state identifies schools in need of support through a program called the North Star Accountability System, which the state launched in 2018.