MDE Convenes Task Force to Review Statewide Standardized Tests, Recommend Modernization
Commissioner-appointed group will review assessment efficacy and identify reforms to more meaningfully measure student learning amid national conversation about standardized testing and accountability
MINNEAPOLIS — Today, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced a new 28-member task force charged with reviewing Minnesota’s standardized testing and assessment framework and identifying recommendations for future modernization and reform. MDE’s Testing and Assessment Task Force comes amidst national conversations about standardized testing efficacy.
Currently, Minnesota’s assessment system relies on single-administration standardized tests that provide limited instructional value. Feedback from educators, school leaders, students, parents, and elected officials of all political persuasions reflects consensus on the need for a more adaptive, timely, and informative system that is relevant, promotes alternative pathways to learning, and provides more actionable data.
“This is the beginning of a critical statewide conversation, not a predetermined outcome,” Commissioner Willie Jett said. “We want to understand what students and educators need from an assessment system today and in the future. Coupled with learning from research and the experiences of Minnesota students and school members, we will build an assessment system for the future.”
While Governor Tim Walz included a statewide assessment and accountability task force in his 2026 budget, the proposal did not pass at the Legislature. The commissioner-appointed task force announced today reflects MDE’s commitment to students and learning, and will include students and families, teachers, school leaders, and education experts from across the state to consider whether statewide assessments are providing the most important information to understand learning and improve student success.
“We are thrilled that Commissioner Jett has appointed a task force to make recommendations to improve Minnesota’s assessment system,” said Scott Croonquist, executive director of Association of Metropolitan School Districts. “The Association of Metropolitan School Districts’ legislative platform has urged state policy makers to establish a task force to develop recommendations to more toward a more student-centered, balanced assessment system that ensures meaningful learning and accurate educational accountability.”
“Having worked closely with statewide testing and the results it produces, while also remaining close to the learners whose results are intended to represent, I have seen that students’ full capabilities do not always show up in our current measures,” said Donna Roper, task force member and director of Research, Assessment, and Generative AI Integration at St. Cloud Area School District. “Building on the Commissioner’s framing, clarifying what student success looks like, including the knowledge, skills, competencies, and dispositions students need to thrive in the moder era, feels like an important next step.”
“Measuring how well we are meeting the needs of our students is critical, and because it matters so much, we have to get it right,” said task force member and West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area Schools Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog. “There are clear opportunities to make are assessments more accurate, useful, and meaningful for educators.”
Students and parents are encouraged to apply by 11:59 p.m. on October 9. The task force is expected to begin meeting in October.
Testing and Assessment Task Force Membership
- Dr. Stacie L. Stanley — Superintendent, Saint Paul Public Schools
- Jason Berg — Superintendent, Farmington Area Public Schools
- Peter Olson-Skog — Superintendent, West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area Schools
- Beth Giese — Superintendent, Kasson-Mantorville School District
- Mona Perkins — Chief Academic Officer, Rochester Public Schools
- Michael Rodriguez — Chancellor, University of Minnesota Morris; Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota
- Donna Roper — Director of Research, Assessment, and Gen AI Integration, St. Cloud Area Schools
- Julio Caesar — Executive Director of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment, Bloomington Public Schools
- Silvy LaFayette — Executive Director of Assessment, Research and Evaluation, St. Louis Park Public Schools
- Peter Wieczorek — Director, Northwest Passage High School
- Karen Klinzing — Executive Director, Hiawatha Academies
- Four educators (to be named)
- Two representatives from Tribal Nations Education Committee
- Representative from Education Allies
- Representative from Education Evolving
- Representative from Minnesota Education
- Representative from Minnesota Education Equity Partnership (MNEEP)
- Representative from PACER
- Four students (to be identified through an application process)
- Four parents or connected adults (to be identified through an application process)
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