St. Cloud Sun

During the 2022-23 school year, 1,804 students from 7th grade took the math portion of the MCA in Stearns County, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

They scored an average of 745, with 39.6% of them considered proficient in the subject.

Data shows that Stearns County students from 3rd grade had the best math performance on the test, marking a score of 351 and a proficiency rate of 55.9%.

At the other end of the educational spectrum, 11th grade students scored in the lowest proficiency of the math portion of the MCA, when 31.1% of them were considered proficient in the subject with an average score of 1140.

The number of Stearns County students taking the math portion of the MCA in the 2022-23 school year rose 1.5% from the previous school year.

The MCA is given annually to Minnesota students to determine the academic readiness of students. Not every grade is tested each year, and the scoring scale varies by grade level. These differing score brackets reflect the varying complexity and expectations at different educational stages.

Analysis from the the Nation's Report Card showed math and reading scores have fallen significantly in the last decade. Science scores have been steady in recent years.

Grade	Number of Students Tested	Considered proficient in Math (%)
3	1,596	55.9%
4	1,628	52.8%
5	1,523	43.3%
6	1,801	37.3%
7	1,804	39.6%
8	1,779	39.6%
11	1,576	31.1%