STUDY:MINNESOTA TEACHING IMPROVEMENT LAGS

A report by Education Week magazine had good news and bad for Minnesota education. While Minnesota students enjoyed better chances for success compared to other states. teaching in the state, particularly in helping poorer students to achieve, is not as good. The 12th annual, "Quality Counts" report gave Minnesota a B+ for student outcome, but a D+ for how well teaching is getting better. Researcher Christopher Swanson worked on the report and said the weakest area in Minnesota education was teachers not trained and certified to as high a standard as other states, especially as it relates to help poor versus non-poor students achieve. Swanson added that he expects more reports comparing US education to that of other countries. He said international reports tend to show "we're not doing so hot." Swanson said the studies tend to show that our younger students are doing well, middle school students not as well, and high school students worse compared to others in the rest of the world. What seems to be happening, Swanson said, is that the older students get, the further behind international standards they fall. Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said the report will begin the discussion of how to improve teaching and attract more highly qualified people to the profession.