Minnesota Ranks High In Math

Minnesota Eighth-grade Students Ranked Second in National Math Assessment; Fourth-graders Rank Third

Minnesota eighth grade math students are ranked second in the nation and the state’s fourth graders rank third in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released today by the National Center for Education Statistics.

The NAEP, administered nationally to fourth and eighth graders, again showed Minnesota students surpassing the national average in mathematics. In Minnesota, 6,000 students from 300 schools participated in the test.



Known as the "nation's report card," the NAEP is a federally mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics to continuously monitor the knowledge, skills and performance of the nation's students. Since 1969, NAEP has measured and reported on the knowledge and abilities of America's fourth, eighth and twelfth grade students, providing data about student performance in a variety of subject areas at national, regional and state levels.

Minnesota Scores Compared to 2007

• Minnesota (249) has one of the highest scale scores for fourth grade math behind Massachusetts (252) and New Hampshire (251). No other state had a significantly higher score than Minnesota: Four states had similar scores (Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and New Jersey) and the rest were significantly lower than Minnesota.

• Minnesota fourth-grade students improved math scores by two points (from 247 to 249) exceeding the national average by ten points (249 compare to 239).

• In eighth-grade, Minnesota (294) was second in the nation exceeded only by Massachusetts (299). Vermont, North Dakota and New Jersey and New Hampshire scored similar to Minnesota (293), and all other states scoring significantly lower.

• Eighth-grade students improved in math (from 292 to 294), mirroring the national average increase (from 280 to 282). Minnesota remains 12 points above the national average and only Massachusetts posted results statistically higher than Minnesota.

African-American and Hispanic fourth grade improvement from 2007

• Minnesota’s African-American students improved from 222 to 227 in fourth grade mathematics and exceeded the nation’s scale score (222). Minnesota remains five points above the nation (222).

• Minnesota Hispanic students improved from 229 to 232 in fourth-grade mathematics and exceeded the nation’s scale score by five points (227).

• Minnesota’s African-American students made improvements from 260 to 264 in eighth-grade mathematics and exceeded the nation’s scale score (260). Minnesota remains four points above the national average (260).

• Minnesota Hispanic students remained at 269 in eighth-grade mathematics with Hispanic students scoring four points above the national average 266.

To narrow the achievement gap, a specific student group must make faster progress or have higher average score changes compared to white students.



For more information regarding Minnesota's performance on the 2009 NAEP Mathematics, visit http://nationsreportcard.gov