Decline Reversed: Rochester School District Sees First Student Test Score Improvement in Years

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- For the first time in multiple years, the Rochester School District (RPS) is reporting an increase in student standardized testing scores. 

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The district released the results from this year’s Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment on Thursday. 

A cyber attack prevented RPS from conducting the testing last year, therefore 2024’s results are being compared against 2022. 

Rochester School District Reports Increase in Math, Science and Literature Proficiency

Testing results indicate RPS saw improvement in math, reading and science scores this year. 

A news release issued by the district says students who were proficient in reading rose 2.2 percentage points from 45.4% in 2022 to 47.7% in 2024. 

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RPS students who scored proficient in mathematics grew from 35.6% in 2022 to 39.4% in 2024, an increase of 3.8 percentage points. 

The percentage of students who score proficient in science grew by 1.2 percentage points from 36.4% in 2022 to 37.6% in 2024. 

RPS notes students who did not take the test were counted as non proficient, which lowers the final percentages. 

The increase in scores reduces a sharp downward trend the district began experiencing in 2016. Despite the increase, testing scores remain below proficiency percentages posted 10 years ago, according to RPS data. 

Willow Creek Middle School led the way in gains across the district in both math and literacy, raising those marks by 18.9 percentage points and 15.4 percentage points respectively. 

John Marshall High School saw the largest gain in science of all the RPS schools at 23.9 percentage points.  

“These results are from tests that students took at the end of the second year of implementing the RPS Strategic Plan,” said RPS Superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel. “Research suggests that it takes about three years to significantly raise student achievement in an elementary school, six years in a high school, and eight years for an entire school district. Given those timelines, I think we should see these results as an early indicator that Rochester Public Schools is on the right track.”

A full breakdown of the RPS MCA results is available by clicking here.

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