Rochester Public Schools Report “Stable Results” in Reading, Math Scores

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The results from the latest round of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment have been released for the Rochester Public School District (RPS). 

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A statement issued by RPS Friday morning describes the district’s performance as "stable" from 2024 to 2025.

Last year, RPS reported its first increase in student standardized testing scores in years, reversing a downward trend that began in 2016. 

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MN Standardize Testing Results: Rochester Schools See Slight Drop in Reading Score, Small Uptick in Math Scores

The 2025 Minnesota Comprehensive assignment found 46.6% of RPS students were proficient in reading. That’s a slight decrease from the 47.6% posted last year. 

RPS students scoring proficient in Math rose by 0.2% from 39.4% last year to 39.6% this year. 

"While I would like to have seen more improvement in our scores, it is not surprising that they were basically stable during a year when our schools were deeply involved in implementing a new reading curriculum across the district and fundamentally changing the way we teach reading to align with the science of reading,” RPS Superintendent Kent Pekel said in a statement. 

RPS was a percentage below the statewide reading proficiency average, which was 47.6% in 2025 and three percentage points below the statewide math proficiency average which was 42.6%. 

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The statewide averages for reading and math proficiency each dropped by 0.2% from scores posted in 2024. 

“There is a large body of evidence that finds that when a major new initiative, such as adopting a new curriculum, is undertaken, there is often an 'implementation dip' in performance. I am confident that as our teachers and schools master the new curriculum and new approaches to teaching, we will return to the level of improvement we saw on the 2024 tests,” Pekel said.