29 August 2024
DULUTH — Duluth Public Schools demonstrated notable improvements in academic performance across the board in 2024. However, the persistent achievement gap between schools on the east and west sides of the city highlights a longstanding geographic divide within the district.
The Minnesota Department of Education released its yearly assessment and accountability data report Thursday morning, showing gains in attendance rates. Throughout the state, Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment scores remained steady.
Scores in Duluth increased incrementally, while the district as a whole maintained a significant lead over the state average in reading, math and science.
“We are thrilled to see our improvement efforts reflected in this year’s student data,” Superintendent John Magas said in a district news release. “This continued growth reflects the deep dedication of our students, teachers, staff and the entire community.”
We still need to do a better job of making sure that we’re serving each and every child well, and that currently we are not doing as well as we need to with our historically underserved students.
Yet, a closer look at the results reveals a complicated picture. The data reveals that more than 50% of students at Denfeld High School and Lincoln Park Middle School — both on the west side — do not meet state standards for student achievement in math and science, with just 52.3% of students meeting standards in reading. And these kinds of results have been consistent for at least four years.
In contrast, East High School and Ordean East Middle School show a markedly different trend, with nearly twice as many students meeting state standards, especially at Ordean East.
Despite outperforming the state in most metrics, the district lags behind state averages in the percentage of Black students and students of two or more races meeting standards, with these figures falling nearly 50% below the state average.
The district acknowledged this lingering gap between the schools in the news release.
“Although we are outperforming the state overall as a district, these results remind us that we cannot become complacent,” Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning and Equity Anthony Bonds said in the news release. “Our journey to ensure that every student achieves their potential is far from over.”
As a whole, the district has a 79% attendance rate, nearly 5% higher than the state average. But those results are perhaps skewed by inconsistency in attendance rates between the Duluth schools. East High School has a high attendance rate at 91.9%, but Denfeld’s rate is actually below the state average at 73.5%.
Bonds noted in the news release that missing even two days of school a month can deter a student’s growth in learning, emphasizing that the district will be working to increase awareness around the benefits of consistent attendance.
One of the district’s goals this year will be to develop a curriculum that is built around meeting every student’s needs, Magas said. Some programs have already worked toward increasing classroom engagement, from the statewide free lunch program to a more comprehensive transportation system.
The district is also rolling out a new schedule that reintroduces a seventh period for high schoolers and block scheduling for middle schoolers, which Magas said is designed to better meet the needs of all students.
Still, Magas recognized that Duluth Public Schools haven’t historically done well by students belonging to marginalized communities and noted that the district has room for improvement.
“We still need to do a better job of making sure that we’re serving each and every child well, and that currently we are not doing as well as we need to with our historically underserved students,” Magas said.
Moving forward, the district will focus on supporting teachers with relevant curriculum and science-based reading, but Magas also focused on students’ social and emotional needs.
“We must also specifically focus on those students that we’re not doing well with, and making sure that we have support and interventions and partnerships with family to ensure success,” Magas said.
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