Literacy is a core, basic function of a public education. However, if a public education system is unable to teach literacy, then public education has missed the mark and for the sake of the children, immediate remedies need to happen. 

In my districts of Big Lake, Elk River and St. Michael-Albertville, the public education system is above state averages. I know our educators work hard to meet the reading-by-third-grade bench mark. But we all know improvements are still needed to guarantee all children can do their best. That is why I believe there is no better use of school time than teaching the basics of literacy and mathematics. 

As part of this, it’s essential for parents to help their kids at home. This includes reading aloud to a child from their earliest days as well as practicing the recognition of letters and numbers. Education and learning are truly all-day, all-hands-on-deck processes that go far beyond school hours. Parents are key to the overall success and parents and teachers hold great responsibility. 

Senate Republicans have seen this lack of literacy reflected in Minnesota students’ increasingly bad results on statewide and national assessments. We know that if students fall behind in third grade, it becomes increasingly difficult to catch up and other subjects will feel the effect. Therefore, we continue to advocate for a special program, LTRS, which would provide all Minnesota teachers with indispensable training in the science of reading instruction to ensure every kid can read by third grade. This has been included in our budgets for several years, but it has yet to be included in any House budget.

To add urgency to this are the latest National Assessment of Education Progress results, which highlight nationwide and statewide standardized test scores. For Minnesota, the report shows a significant decline in student test scores on national math and reading exams, which were taken last spring by fourth and eighth graders. And this new data serves as an added reminder of just how significantly our Minnesota students are falling behind. 

Alarmingly, the average Minnesota fourth-grade math score was 239 in 2022 – the lowest score in more than two decades. This score also dropped nine points since the assessment was last taken in 2019, while the national average only dropped five points. 

For Minnesota eight graders, the average on this year’s math exam was 280 out of 300 points. That’s an 11-point drop in average math scores since 2019, compared with the eight-point national decrease.

While eight graders’ reading scores did not decrease significantly this year, Minnesota’s average 2022 fourth-grade reading score is the lowest since 1994.  And our state’s fourth-grade reading scores also took a big hit since 2019 – down from 222 points to 216.

It’s true that Minnesota students on average scored better than their peers nationally. However, the data above showcases how most of our state’s assessment scores saw a more significant decline – when comparing our average 2022 scores with those from 2019 – than the national average. This is completely unacceptable and demonstrates that our state’s current education leadership is failing our students.

Last year, Minnesota students continued to be locked out of schools and were learning remotely. The learning loss that resulted from the pandemic can be clearly seen is the new test score data. In contrast, Florida schools chose to fully reopen for in-person learning during the 2020-2021 school year. And as a result, they saw no significant drop in their students’ reading scores. 

We need to get our students back on the right track, and to do that, it is critical we focus on the most basic support we can provide our students — improving literacy. I strongly believe that Minnesota needs new education leadership that will take a new approach to learning. Our students are our future and it’s vital that they are set up for success.

Contact me

As always, if have questions or concerns on any legislative topic, feel free to contact me any time. You can call me at 651-296-5655 or send me an email at sen.mary.kiffmeyer@senate.mn. It is a privilege to serve as your state senator.

Sincerely,

Mary