Minnesota math scores dropped last spring for a fifth consecutive year as schools across the state lopped several teaching days off their calendars due to severe cold and snow.

Fifty-four percent of students tested proficient or better in math, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous year.

The state’s pass rate in reading fell by 1 point, to 58 percent, according to yearly Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment data released Thursday by the Department of Education.

As weather-related cancellations piled up, lawmakers in spring gave schools a reprieve from state laws requiring minimum amounts of instruction time.

St. Paul Public Schools, which called off seven days, saw its math proficiency drop 3 points, to 31 percent, while reading gained a point, to 39 percent.

The Minneapolis district’s proficiency in math was flat, at 39 percent, while reading inched up to 43 percent.

On the positive side, Minnesota’s four-year high school graduation rate continued its steady rise, breaking 83 percent.

That’s become a trend for both the state and the St. Paul school district: More students are leaving high school with a diploma despite coming up short on standardized tests.

“The graduation rate is becoming almost irrelevant,” said Jim Bartholomew, education policy director for the Minnesota Business Partnership. “It’s becoming more an indication that students put in the time and participate and less an indicator of achievement.”

In just three years, Minnesota’s math proficiency has fallen by 4.9 percentage points; St. Paul is down 5.2 points in that same time.

The state’s math scores actually have dropped five straight years, but it’s hard to look back before 2016 because students who opt out of tests now are counted as failures instead of absences.

Bartholomew said the state seems to have lost focus on student achievement amid debates over funding, technology and expanding public preschool.

“There should be alarm bells going off,” he said.

ONE INDICATOR

Education Secretary Mary Cathryn Ricker released the test and graduation figures Thursday along with a wealth of additional data on Minnesota’s students, including suspensions, homelessness, career classes taken and school lunches served.

Noting the connection between a student’s academic struggles and poor attendance related to homelessness, she said she hopes the new State of Our Students report will “spark new conversations about how to break those barriers down.”

Ricker lamented persistent achievement gaps between whites and students of color, which did not change last year. But she said she would resist “the urge to rely on test scores as our sole indicator of progress.”

Ricker said she’s focused on serving “the whole child, so all children have the support they need to succeed in the classroom.”

St. Paul Superintendent Joe Gothard acknowledged the district’s mostly negative results in a news release, saying the tests “help us reflect on where we as a district need to improve.”

“We must continue our efforts of aligning resources through our strategic plan, SPPS Achieves, to increase the acceleration in our scores and narrow the large racial and economic gaps that persist,” he added. Related Articles St. Paul district to wait on reopening schools, citing lack of staff

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Despite the downward trends in math and reading, Minnesota is in good shape overall compared to other states.

On the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the state’s fourth- and eighth-graders ranked second in math and among the top 20 in reading.

The state’s achievement gaps, however, are among the widest in the nation.

For achievement and other data on individual schools and school districts, visit the Minnesota Report Card.