RPS sees minimal changes in 2025 MCA reading, math results

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) released the results of the 2025 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) in reading and math.

For Rochester Public Schools (RPS), the results did not change a lot from last year, with neither change being statistically significant.

According to MDE, reading scores dipped slightly to 46.6% from 47.6% in 2024, and math scores increased slightly to 39.6% compared to 39.4% in 2024.

Statewide, the results show 47.6% of students being proficient in reading and 42.6% being proficient in math.

RPS said its results are close to Minnesota’s average.

RPS Superintendent Kent Pekel commented on the results in a statement:

“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. 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.”

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