Bluejacket Brief: Academic Growth, Proficiency, and Progress

Accurate information matters and so does celebrating our students. In Cambridge-Isanti Schools, we are seeing students grow and succeed in their classes, activities, and programs. Our students work hard, keep going even when things are tough, and continue to make progress. That is something to be proud of.

Recently, someone shared a claim about “35% math proficiency” and stated more than 1,000 high school students are not proficient. That number comes from one outside website and does not show the whole picture of how our students are doing.

Proficiency and growth are not the same. Proficiency is a snapshot from one yearly state test called the MCA. In Minnesota’s North Star system, if a student does not take the MCA, they are counted as “not proficient.” This includes full-time PSEO students, many of whom are earning strong college grades and ACT scores.

Growth shows how much a student improves over time—and this is where we are seeing strong results. Nearly 70% of second graders met or passed their reading growth goal from fall to winter. In math, grades 3–8 improved from slightly below the state average to 2.3% above it in one year. Also, 62.9% of fifth graders scored at or above the national benchmark.

The MCA is just one test. We look at student progress all year long. Our goal stays the same: help every student grow and be prepared for success after graduation.