St. Cloud Sun

During the 2022-23 school year, 1,630 students from 4th grade took the reading portion of the MCA in Stearns County, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

They scored an average of 446, with 44.7% of them considered proficient in the subject.

Data shows that Stearns County students from 5th grade had the best reading performance on the test, marking a score of 550 and a proficiency rate of 55.4%.

At the other end of the educational spectrum, 8th grade students scored in the lowest proficiency of the reading portion of the MCA, when 40.6% of them were considered proficient in the subject with an average score of 844.

The number of Stearns County students taking the reading portion of the MCA in the 2022-23 school year rose 0.2% 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 Reading (%)
3	1,605	43.4%
4	1,630	44.7%
5	1,520	55.4%
6	1,800	48.5%
7	1,812	41.2%
8	1,794	40.6%
10	1,741	49.2%