The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) oversees annual administration of statewide assessments. They are designed to provide the state, districts, and schools with a snapshot of student progress towards meeting Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards.
Students participate in Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) in the following grades and subject areas:
- Reading: Grades 3-8 and 10
- Mathematics: Grades 3-8 and 11
- Science: Grades 5, 8, and students currently taking Biology
MDE and Eagle Ridge Academy are aware of the concerns about the impact of the pandemic on learning and is expecting student results to look different from previous years. When the assessment is administered correctly, the scores will still represent an accurate snapshot of student learning of the grade-level content. Schools can use the results as an additional measure to evaluate their curriculum.
Per MDE guidance, MCA assessments can only be administered in the Eagle Ridge Academy building. All health and safety protocols currently in place at Eagle Ridge Academy will be followed. This includes physical distancing, masking, handwashing, and sanitizing/disinfecting. To view more complete plans about the health and safety measures we are taking to ensure students and staff stay safe and healthy during testing, please CLICK HERE.
In-person students will test during the regular school day Monday through Thursday. Distance learning students will test on scheduled Fridays in either a morning session or an afternoon session. If your child is in distance learning and you do not want your child to come in to the school to test because of concerns for health and safety related to COVID-19, you can choose for your child to not take the test. A survey was sent on Monday, March 22, 2021 for parents of distance learning students to communicate participation in MCA assessments. This survey closes on Friday, March 26, 2021 at 6:00 p.m.
Please reference the following schedule for MCA dates and session times. On Fridays, all “AM” sessions will run from 8:15-11:15 a.m. All “PM” sessions will run from 11:30-2:30 p.m.
For additional information (in several languages), visit the MDE website about this year’s test administration (from the MDE home page, select COVID-19, then in the left-hand menu, select Student Instruction COVID-19 Resources > Assessing Learning).
For additional information about frequently asked questions by families, visit the MDE site (from MDE home page, select, Students and Families from the top menu, select statewide testing under the program and initiatives section, then click the link below named “MCA Parent Fact Sheet – 11/30/20”.)
For any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Missy Madigan, Interim District Assessment Coordinator, at mmadigan@eagleridgeacademy.org.