Study Gives Lake Minnetonka-Area Schools Uneven Grades for Achievement Gap

Lake Minnetonka-area schools are doing well in terms of student performance, but students of color are in most cases doing worse than white students, according to a new study. 

While Minnesota's public schools excel in test scores, the achievement gaps between white kids and students of color, and between low-income and high-income students, are still significantly larger than national averages.

Statewide, black and Latino eighth-graders lag 37 percentage points behind their white peers in math. Low-income eight-graders trail their richer classmates by 32 percentage points.

In a March report, the Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now (MinnCAN) sliced and diced public school data and published "report cards" for every school and district in the state, grading them in five categories:

• Student performance (average percentage of students who are proficient or above across reading and math)
• Subgroup performance (average percentage of low-income, black and Latino students who are proficient or above in reading and math)
• Achievement gap (average difference between the percentage of low-income and minority students and percentage of non-low-income and white students who are proficient or above in reading and math)
• Performance Gains (average one-year change among a cohort of students who are proficient in reading and math)
• Four-year cohort high school graduation rates

Take a look at MinnCAN's ratings for Lake Minnetonka-area school districts below or look at individual school grades on MinnCAN's website.

MinnCAN Grades for Orono District Schools

Elementary Middle High School Student Performance A- A- B+ Subgroup Performance C- A- C Performance Gains -- -- --
Achievement Gap F A- D- Graduation Rates -- -- B+

MinnCAN Grades for Westonka District Schools

Elementary Middle High School Student Performance B- C+ B Subgroup Performance B- C B Performance Gains F D- --
Achievement Gap B C B Graduation Rates -- -- C-

MinnCAN Grades for Wayzata District Schools

Elementary Middle High School Student Performance A A B+ Subgroup Performance A- A- B- Performance Gains -- -- --
Achievement Gap B- C+ C- Graduation Rates -- -- C+

MinnCAN Grades for Minnetonka District Schools

Elementary Middle High School Student Performance A- A B+ Subgroup Performance B+ B+ B+ Performance Gains -- -- --
Achievement Gap C C+ B Graduation Rates -- -- B+

Percentage of students scoring proficient on The Nation's Report Card (2011)

Fourth-graders
(reading)

Fourth-graders
(math) Eighth-graders
(reading) Eighth-graders
(math) Minnesota 35 53 39 48 U.S. 32 39 32 34

Eighth-grade proficiency achievement gaps in math (2011, in percentage points)

Black/
white gap Latino/
white gap Low-income/
non-low-income gap Minnesota 37 37 32 U.S. 30 23 28

Eighth-grade proficiency achievement gaps in reading (2011, in percentage points)

Black/
white gap Latino/
white gap Low-income/
non-low-income gap Minnesota 29 21 25 U.S. 27 23 26