SE Twin Cities

During the 2022-23 school year, 614 students from 7th grade took the reading portion of the MCA in Rice County, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

They scored an average of 747, with 46.9% of them considered proficient in the subject.

Data shows that Rice County students from 5th grade had the best reading performance on the test, marking a score of 551 and a proficiency rate of 58.9%.

At the other end of the educational spectrum, 4th grade students scored in the lowest proficiency of the reading portion of the MCA, when 42.9% of them were considered proficient in the subject with an average score of 447.

The number of Rice County students taking the reading portion of the MCA in the 2022-23 school year fell 3.2% 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	532	46.2%
4	543	42.9%
5	580	58.9%
6	600	51.6%
7	614	46.9%
8	652	44.1%
10	537	43.5%