Education leaders in the Minnesota House of Representatives want a statewide status report on students’ academic achievement.
Rep. Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, and Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, are asking the Minnesota Department of Education to provide that report. The request comes after a recent report from KARE 11 revealed nearly 40% of high school students in the St. Paul Public School District had failing grades within the first quarter of the school year.
“This news from the St. Paul Public School District illustrates the significant damage COVID-19 restrictions and school closures are having on Minnesota students,” Erickson said in a news release Monday, Nov. 23. “Sadly, it appears that the academic trajectory of an entire generation of students will be stunted because of disruptions caused by the pandemic. Now, more than ever, we need to come to a full understanding of the harm being done to students so that we can try and change course before it is too late.”
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"This information is essential so that we can see how students are being impacted," Kresha stated in the release. "These students are the future, and we need to make sure that we are not failing them. We need to know the full scope of how distance and hybrid learning are impacting achievement as soon as possible so we can change tactics as needed and help our students succeed in spite of this current crisis."
Erickson and Kresha are asking the Department of Education to compile data to demonstrate the impact hybrid and distance learning models are having on academic achievement in hopes of tailoring state policy to better respond to the educational needs of students.
