Understandably so, folks took note of the results from last spring’s Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs), tests given to New Prague students and children across the state last spring to assess their proficiency with curriculum meant to meet state standards.
The Minnesota Department of Education released the results of the assessments last week and we published the local results and compared them to results of neighboring school districts in the Oct. 8 print and online editions of The New Prague Times.
The state first started using comprehensive assessments in the late-1990s, following the high-stakes basic skills test earlier in the decade. The original assessments were created because too many high school graduates couldn’t make change for a $20 bill. With the old Minnesota Education Assoc. (known today as Education Minnesota) being among the state’s largest unions, business leaders seeking corporate-style accountability measures were among the primary proponents of the push for mandatory statewide testing. The assessments are a step toward accountability for a system expected to spend over $440 million educating public school students statewide in 2028-2029.
MDE uses the assessments in their current form to gather information about how districts and schools are teaching the Minnesota academic standards. Schools use the information to improve curriculum materials and student support. Teachers look for areas where students do well so they can reinforce the ways they teach these skills. Schools and districts also look for areas where they can improve curricula and instruction. The MCAs are aligned to the Minnesota academic standards, which specify what students in a particular grade should know and be able to do. All students in Minnesota public schools take the MCAs though the state permits students to optout with the results of the opt-outs counting against a district’s proficiency rates.
Students take the reading MCA in third through eighth grades and 10th grade. The mathematics MCA is given to students in third through eighth grades and 11th grade. The science MCA is given to fifth- through eighth-graders and once during their years in high school.
New Prague topped state standards in most categories, which is good news. In the 2026-2027 school year, the district said New Prague schools “celebrate” the work of staff and alignment of resources to prepare students to meet the learning targets associated with the curriculum. Some don’t see the justification of a celebration for those who believe every student should attain proficiency.
But the MCAs are one piece of a multifaceted puzzle. New Prague’s students showed well, overall, but there are still concerning signs in the results. Just over one-third of students are not reading at grade level. Almost 52% of students statewide are not reading at grade level. The READ Act of 2023 was passed to improve that statistic. Educators and state programs can’t fix the problem alone – districts must receive the assistance and support of parents.
Districtwide, math proficiency slipped from 58.5% of the 1,022 New Prague students who took the math assessment in 2025 to 56.8% of the 1,007 students assessed in 2026. Back in 2023, 64.8% of the 1,312 NP students assessed in math were proficient, a number that has slowly declined since. In science, 30.9% of the 237 students who took the latest version of the science MCA were proficient, a slight improvement over the 28% of 200 students who took it in 2025. The new reading assessment saw 51.7% of the 946 students assessed were proficient on the reading test.
For those who are concerned, perhaps downright upset, about the results, the concern is understandable, especially in the wake of a successful operating levy increase last year. But they should also take a look at the state allowing parents to opt their children out of the assessments, a decision parents have the right to make, yet one counting against districts as ‘non-proficient.’ New Prague Principal Brian Thorstad says about 20% of the high school’s 1,300 students opt-out. He said the opt-outs are typically academically talented students who would do well but have nothing to gain from taking the assessments. That’s about 260 sets of test results counted against New Prague. The StarTribune reported 6% of students statewide opted out of the exams.
If a parent wants to opt-out, they should have the right, but the parents’ decision should not count against the district as a whole. Before the district is criticized, the whole picture should be examined.