St. Paul Reporter

During the 2022-23 school year, 5,976 students from 3rd grade took the reading portion of the MCA in Ramsey County, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

They scored an average of 339, with 35.4% of them considered proficient in the subject.

Data shows that Ramsey County students from 5th grade had the best reading performance on the test, marking a score of 547 and a proficiency rate of 46.6%.

The number of Ramsey County students taking the reading portion of the MCA in the 2022-23 school year rose 0.3% 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	5,976	35.4%
4	6,163	36.5%
5	6,001	46.6%
6	5,662	44.9%
7	5,713	37%
8	5,752	39.3%
10	5,025	44.9%