St. Paul Reporter

During the 2022-23 school year, 6,163 students from 4th grade took the reading portion of the MCA in Ramsey County, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

They scored an average of 443, with 36.5% 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%.

At the other end of the educational spectrum, 3rd grade students scored in the lowest proficiency of the reading portion of the MCA, when 35.4% of them were considered proficient in the subject with an average score of 339.

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%