Data-Driven Education Journalism for the North Star State
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Minnesota, grounded in Minnesota Department of Education data.
In a complete historical five-year panel, 110 Minnesota districts matched their graduation highs in 2024 and 86 their lows. Ties are included.
Willmar improved in five consecutive annual transitions through the Class of 2025, the only district to do so in a complete six-class panel of 399 district reports.
Minnesota's four-year graduation rate rose from 83.3% in 2023 to 84.2% in 2024 as graduates increased by 1,427 and non-graduates fell by 445.
No racial group exceeds 28% of Saint Paul enrollment, the most even mix among Minnesota's large non-charter districts.
Anoka-Hennepin enrolls about one in every 23 Minnesota public school students and is almost exactly the size it was twelve years ago. Its new superintendent, promoted from chief operating officer, arrives to a flat total and a lopsided grade spine.
Minnesota's 2025-26 charter sector was 31.8% Black, compared with 10.9% in traditional districts.
South Koochiching's new superintendent says the district's sharp 2023-24 enrollment drop reflects a building closure, not falling demand, and the count has held at 203 since.
Le Sueur-Henderson's interim superintendent says relationships, student achievement and sound operations will guide a district that reported 908 students last school year after a long enrollment decline.
Onamia's published graduation rate declined in every year from 2020 through 2024, when 23 of 56 cohort members graduated on time.
Spero Academy has nearly quadrupled since 2014-15. Almost all of the growth since 2022 is at a campus that did not exist before then, and its new executive director says he has run a two-campus school before.
Osakis has stayed inside a 71-student band for twelve years. Its new superintendent, who began her education in the district and whose children attend it, says that steadiness is what buys the school its small class sizes.
A corrected ID-based screen finds 118 Minnesota districts below the state chronic absenteeism rate in each report from 2020-21 through 2023-24.
Moorhead's chronic-absence rate fell to 21.1% in 2021-22, then rose to 35.5% in 2023-24; Moorhead High School was at 65.4%.
Minneapolis chronic absenteeism peaked at 47.0% in 2021-22 and fell to 31.7% by 2023-24, still 10.3 points above Minnesota.
In 2020-21, 40.6% of Minnesota students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch were chronically absent, 19.1 points above the statewide rate; subgroup breakdowns are available only for that year.
