Assessment Information
Nevis School Testing Information
Pine Point Assessment Information
Park Rapids Assessment Information
Up North Learning Center Assessment Information
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Assessment Information
Parent Statewide Guide to Testing
Statewide Guide to Testing in Spanish
Statewide assessments are tests that are given to Minnesota students each spring. They can be thought of as a snapshot of what students have learned.
Just as student picture day provides a single image of a student for that school year, Minnesota’s statewide assessments provide only part of the story of individual student learning. All the photos—from the full classroom, the full grade level or the full district—offer even greater insight. Think fashion trends. Hair styles. Pop culture.
In the same way, Minnesota’s statewide assessments give teachers, school districts and state education leaders information in context that they can use to make decisions about education. Teachers and schools can use the information to help guide instruction and better support students. The state and members of the public can use the data to focus on the important goal of providing equitable opportunities for all students across the state.
These links discuss the types of statewide assessments given in Minnesota each year and how they contribute to student learning and equity.
The Minnesota Assessments are designed to measure achievement towards meeting the Minnesota Academic Standards (for the standards-based accountability assessments) and to measure progress towards meeting the WIDA English Language Development Standards (for English language proficiency accountability assessments).
- For the standards-based accountability assessments, refer to the Academic Standards webpage and the Frequently Asked Questions about Minnesota’s K–12 Academic Standards for more information about the Minnesota Academic Standards. In addition, the test specifications indicate which strands, sub-strands, standards, and benchmarks will be assessed on the test and in what proportions.
- For the English language proficiency accountability assessments, refer to the English Language Development (ELD) Standards webpage for information about how to connect language development and academic content.
The Minnesota Assessments are criterion-referenced assessments, which means they measure performance against a fixed set of criteria: the Minnesota Academic Standards or the WIDA English Language Development Standards. Criterion-referenced assessments are used to determine mastery of concepts and skills and to measure progress toward goals and objectives. While criterion-referenced tests may provide information about how well students have mastered certain concepts, they alone do not illustrate the whole picture of what a student has learned. These assessments provide one data point that should be considered in the context of additional evidence of student learning like student projects and district and classroom assessments.
