At the center of the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal education law, are several measures focusing on student achievement and accountability. The federal law requires states to develop academic standards and test students' progress toward achieving the standards.
Minnesota Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver request was approved by the U.S. Department of Education and announced in February 2012.
Under NCLB, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the level of improvement that school districts and schools must achieve each year. School districts have until 2013-14 to achieve 100 percent proficiency for all students in all subgroups (students with limited English proficiency, students with special education needs, students receiving free or reduced lunch, and students who are White, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Hispanic).
With the waiver, Minnesota's goal is to close the achievement gaps by 50 percent over the next six years.
NCLB requires that students are tested in grades 3-8 and in high school in reading and mathematics. Minnesota uses the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments to meet this requirement. Additionally, NCLB requires annual tests for science once in grades 3-5, once in grades 6-8 and once in grades 9-12.
Results of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments are used to determine whether a school meets AYP participation and proficiency requirements. Attendance and graduation rate for all students are also part of AYP determinations.
However, central to Minnesota's waiver request was to move from a system that uses a single high-stakes test to measure school performance to a system that uses multiple measurements of accountability.
The state's new accountability system is based on multiple measures of data to identify schools for recognition, accountability and support. Minnesota's accountability plans look at individual student growth, achievement gap reduction and graduation rates in addition to proficiency rates to generate a Multiple Measurement Rating (MMR) for every school in the state.
World's Best Workforce
The Minnesota Legislature passed the World's Best Workforce bill in 2013 to ensure every school district in the state is making strides to increase student performance. The School Board must establish goals and align strategic plans and budgets to achieve world-class student achievement by 2027.
World's Best Workforce (WBWF) is focused on the goals of having all students meet school readiness goals and be ready to start kindergarten, having all third-grade students achieve grade-level literacy, closing the academic achievement gap between all subgroups (ethnic, special education, poverty), having all students graduate from high school, and having all students attain college and career preparedness.
District plans that address World's Best Workforce include:
- Strategic Priorities
- Local Literacy Plan
- English Learner Plan of Service
- Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services (ADSIS)
- Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process (CIMP)
- Annual Operating Plan
- Technology Plan
- School Readiness and Early Learning Goals
- Community Education Plan
- Principal Growth and Evaluation Plan
- Teacher Growth and Evaluation Plan
Accountability Reporting
Moorhead Area Public Schools is required to prepare the Annual Report on Curriculum, Instruction and Student Achievement, which must be approved by the School Board by Oct. 1 each year.
The report highlights:
- Student achievement goals for meeting the state academic standards;
- Result of local assessment data;
- School district improvement plans and progress on previous improvement plans; and
- Annual assessment of school district testing program.
Annual Reports
Read the district's current and previous annual reports.
Show More »
School Profiles
Additional historical demographic and assessment data is available in the School Profiles documents.
Minnesota Report Card
The Minnesota Report Card provides access to district and school information, test results, revenue and expenditure data, and demographic information at the Minnesota Department of Education website.
Related Information