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Chisago Lakes reviews assessment data, superintendent urges broader view than single MCA score
Summary
District presenters told the board that traditional MCA proficiency figures understate overall student performance and that including ‘partially proficient’ students raises the share meeting academic expectations; presenters also highlighted kindergarten literacy gains and falling intervention rates.
The Chisago Lakes School District board heard a detailed presentation on student assessment results, with district staff urging the board and public to interpret MCA scores alongside multiple measures of student learning.
Presenters told the board the district’s composite reading proficiency (students who met or exceeded standards) was 56%, compared with a state figure of 49.6%. "I included the partial on the right because I feel like it's a little bit of an insult misnomer to be, like, kids who are partially proficient on the MCAs are, like, failing," the assessment presenter said, arguing that including partially proficient students places the district closer to "the high seventies into the low eighties" on broader measures of success.
Why it matters: board members cautioned that single-number snapshots can mislead the public. A member referenced a private group’s grade-based ranking using raw proficiency percentages and said such snapshots are "deceiving when you see that" because they omit the larger context of classroom assessment and growth metrics.
The presentation explained testing logistics and federal alignment: MCAs vary by grade and subject (for example, fifth-grade reading and math tests amount to roughly two hours each with an additional science session) and Minnesota’s testing schedule aligns with ESSA requirements for science testing frequency. The presenter emphasized that modern MCAs are more multi-step and analytical than earlier, simpler tests.
District staff also highlighted additional measures of student success: kindergarten letter-sound proficiency rose districtwide from 51% in fall to 71% in spring, and the share of students receiving tier-2 math/reading interventions has declined in recent years — signs presenters said are consistent with improving core instruction.
Board members asked for and were offered further disaggregation of the data by grade and program (for example, separating advanced, regular and intervention groups), and the presenter said those breakdowns are available. The board was told the district will incorporate the broader narrative approach into the annual report so the community sees multiple measures rather than a single proficiency percent.
The assessment presenter closed by urging continued communication about what the tests measure and how classroom, benchmark and standardized assessments together describe system health.
