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Educational Engagement

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Percent of Students Reporting Higher Levels of Educational Engagement, All Available Years: by Grade, Race, Gender, and Region

201320162019
MaleTotalFemaleMaleTotalFemaleMaleTotalFemale
Minnesota9thAfrican-American or Black73.9%75.8%77.8%75.3%77.6%79.9%70.7%73.3%75.9%
All Races Combined72.9%75.5%78.2%74.0%76.6%79.1%65.6%69.4%73.0%
Asian American80.8%84.8%88.8%82.1%83.7%85.4%73.7%77.8%81.6%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial66.1%68.2%70.1%67.9%69.8%71.5%61.5%64.3%66.7%
Hispanic/Latino66.5%69.0%71.1%69.5%71.9%74.4%62.3%65.7%69.0%
Native American64.1%60.8%56.7%59.2%61.3%64.5%56.4%57.9%59.5%
Pacific Islander52.8%58.0%65.7%61.1%68.3%*55.1%57.1%60.0%
White73.7%76.6%79.4%74.9%77.5%80.2%65.4%69.4%73.4%
All GradesAfrican-American or Black75.7%77.7%79.9%77.3%79.3%81.3%70.5%73.0%75.7%
All Races Combined74.7%77.9%81.2%74.9%78.1%81.3%67.4%71.4%75.3%
Asian American82.2%85.5%88.6%82.6%84.7%86.8%75.6%78.7%81.7%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial70.1%72.4%74.5%70.7%72.4%74.0%63.9%66.2%68.3%
Hispanic/Latino70.5%73.0%75.4%72.4%74.6%76.8%65.2%69.3%73.3%
Native American67.0%67.0%67.1%65.2%66.3%67.8%60.1%61.1%62.3%
Pacific Islander67.3%71.3%76.9%69.0%73.2%79.3%60.9%63.3%66.9%
White75.1%78.6%82.2%75.1%78.8%82.5%67.1%71.6%76.0%
11thAfrican-American or Black73.9%78.7%83.8%72.3%76.9%81.5%69.3%73.0%76.9%
All Races Combined69.2%74.4%79.6%68.1%73.0%78.0%63.1%68.6%74.2%
Asian American81.0%84.9%88.8%80.7%82.6%84.5%74.8%78.0%81.4%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial67.1%71.1%75.0%64.4%66.5%68.6%60.1%64.4%68.3%
Hispanic/Latino69.9%72.0%74.3%69.2%72.0%74.9%65.3%70.3%74.8%
Native American58.3%60.4%63.0%61.5%64.4%68.1%50.6%57.2%63.9%
Pacific Islander62.5%67.5%73.0%73.0%70.5%**66.0%*
White68.2%74.0%79.7%67.1%72.8%78.5%61.9%68.0%74.1%
5thAfrican-American or Black80.1%82.0%84.1%83.6%84.7%86.0%73.6%75.4%77.2%
All Races Combined82.3%85.4%88.5%83.0%85.8%88.8%73.6%77.6%81.6%
Asian American84.7%87.6%90.5%85.9%88.5%90.9%78.8%81.5%84.2%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial79.5%82.8%85.9%80.4%82.7%84.8%72.4%74.6%76.6%
Hispanic/Latino80.2%82.5%84.8%81.0%83.2%85.4%72.2%77.3%81.7%
Native American72.3%75.0%78.5%72.2%72.9%73.8%66.0%67.7%70.2%
Pacific Islander80.7%83.8%88.1%75.7%79.6%84.1%56.1%62.5%70.4%
White83.4%86.6%89.9%83.8%87.1%90.5%74.2%78.6%83.1%
8thAfrican-American or Black73.9%74.0%74.1%75.0%75.9%76.9%67.5%70.2%73.1%
All Races Combined74.5%76.7%79.0%74.0%76.6%79.3%66.4%69.5%72.6%
Asian American82.8%84.7%86.6%82.0%84.4%86.9%75.2%77.4%79.7%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial69.1%69.7%70.3%70.0%70.8%71.5%61.5%62.6%63.5%
Hispanic/Latino66.4%69.5%72.5%70.3%71.8%73.3%62.5%65.4%68.4%
Native American65.0%62.5%58.9%61.0%60.6%60.1%56.3%53.7%50.4%
Pacific Islander71.4%74.4%79.3%62.0%67.6%*69.8%68.0%65.0%
White75.7%78.3%80.9%74.7%78.0%81.3%66.8%70.4%74.0%
Metro9thAfrican-American or Black74.0%75.8%77.6%75.0%77.8%80.7%70.6%73.6%76.5%
All Races Combined75.2%77.1%79.0%76.3%78.2%80.2%67.8%70.7%73.5%
Asian American82.1%85.7%89.0%83.2%84.5%85.7%74.8%78.4%82.0%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial68.3%69.5%70.5%68.8%71.1%73.3%65.8%66.4%67.0%
Hispanic/Latino68.3%71.2%73.6%71.8%73.7%75.5%62.1%65.9%69.7%
Native American67.2%63.5%60.0%68.2%70.5%73.8%57.4%58.5%59.6%
Pacific Islander53.6%58.0%63.6%*72.7%**66.0%*
White76.2%78.1%79.9%77.2%79.1%81.0%67.3%70.3%73.2%
All GradesAfrican-American or Black77.1%78.4%79.8%77.6%79.6%81.6%70.7%73.2%75.7%
All Races Combined76.7%79.3%81.9%76.6%79.3%81.9%69.4%72.6%75.8%
Asian American82.8%85.9%89.0%83.3%85.3%87.3%76.3%79.0%81.7%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial71.8%73.6%75.2%71.9%73.5%74.9%65.8%67.4%68.9%
Hispanic/Latino72.1%74.6%77.0%74.0%75.7%77.5%66.3%70.2%73.9%
Native American73.2%72.5%71.5%70.8%72.3%74.4%66.3%66.0%65.6%
Pacific Islander72.2%74.9%78.8%72.4%74.3%76.5%65.2%66.5%68.4%
White77.1%79.9%82.8%76.6%79.8%83.0%69.0%72.6%76.1%
11thAfrican-American or Black76.4%80.3%84.5%72.0%77.1%82.0%69.6%73.4%77.5%
All Races Combined72.5%76.6%80.7%70.4%74.6%78.9%65.6%70.0%74.3%
Asian American81.0%84.9%88.8%80.5%82.7%84.9%75.5%77.9%80.5%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial70.0%73.9%77.6%66.5%67.6%68.6%62.2%66.4%70.1%
Hispanic/Latino72.3%74.0%75.7%70.7%73.6%76.5%65.8%70.3%74.3%
Native American57.1%64.1%72.4%70.0%65.8%60.6%46.7%57.4%67.7%
Pacific Islander65.4%74.5%85.7%*65.8%**65.4%*
White71.2%75.7%80.1%69.0%74.1%79.3%64.1%68.8%73.5%
5thAfrican-American or Black81.6%82.3%83.1%84.7%85.2%85.8%73.8%75.0%76.2%
All Races Combined83.3%86.2%89.3%84.1%86.4%88.8%74.8%78.4%81.9%
Asian American84.9%87.8%90.6%87.2%89.4%91.4%79.5%82.3%85.1%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial80.6%83.6%86.2%80.2%82.9%85.2%72.4%74.9%77.2%
Hispanic/Latino79.1%82.8%86.3%81.6%83.6%85.5%72.5%77.9%82.7%
Native American80.4%79.5%78.3%74.3%77.1%80.7%73.3%73.6%74.0%
Pacific Islander84.2%86.4%90.5%80.0%80.8%81.6%*63.2%*
White84.3%87.7%91.3%84.9%87.8%90.6%75.4%79.4%83.5%
8thAfrican-American or Black75.5%74.9%74.4%75.4%76.3%77.3%68.1%70.6%73.2%
All Races Combined76.0%77.6%79.2%75.5%77.8%80.1%68.5%71.0%73.4%
Asian American83.2%85.3%87.4%82.5%84.9%87.4%75.5%77.5%79.4%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial70.1%70.1%70.1%72.6%72.8%72.9%62.7%63.2%63.6%
Hispanic/Latino69.2%71.3%73.3%71.8%72.4%73.1%66.2%67.9%69.7%
Native American69.8%69.5%69.0%67.8%68.2%68.9%63.5%57.6%47.7%
Pacific Islander82.6%79.5%75.0%*71.4%*78.8%70.5%60.7%
White77.0%78.9%80.9%75.9%79.1%82.2%68.8%71.9%74.9%
Non-Metro9thAfrican-American or Black73.3%75.7%78.5%76.0%76.6%77.4%70.9%72.3%73.9%
All Races Combined70.4%73.8%77.3%71.5%74.6%77.9%63.0%67.8%72.4%
Asian American70.6%77.3%85.9%73.6%78.4%83.1%65.7%73.9%79.6%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial62.9%66.3%69.4%66.6%67.8%69.0%55.0%61.2%66.3%
Hispanic/Latino64.0%65.7%67.3%66.5%69.6%72.8%62.6%65.3%68.0%
Native American63.2%59.8%55.3%55.8%57.7%60.7%56.2%57.8%59.4%
Pacific Islander52.0%57.9%69.2%****45.9%*
White71.6%75.2%78.9%72.8%76.1%79.5%63.7%68.6%73.5%
All GradesAfrican-American or Black69.9%74.7%80.5%76.4%78.2%80.2%69.7%72.5%75.8%
All Races Combined72.4%76.3%80.3%73.1%76.8%80.6%65.1%69.9%74.8%
Asian American78.1%82.0%86.0%78.4%81.3%84.1%72.0%76.9%81.5%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial67.7%70.6%73.5%69.1%70.9%72.7%61.3%64.5%67.4%
Hispanic/Latino68.2%70.6%73.0%70.2%73.0%75.8%63.4%68.0%72.3%
Native American64.3%64.8%65.4%63.0%63.9%65.1%57.9%59.4%61.3%
Pacific Islander60.7%66.7%74.6%65.7%71.9%83.3%56.3%59.8%65.2%
White73.3%77.5%81.6%73.8%77.9%82.0%65.5%70.7%75.9%
11thAfrican-American or Black63.2%70.3%80.0%73.5%76.2%79.1%68.8%71.9%75.3%
All Races Combined65.4%71.9%78.3%65.5%71.3%77.0%60.4%67.2%74.1%
Asian American80.6%84.8%89.0%82.4%81.9%81.5%71.1%78.2%86.2%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial62.5%66.3%70.4%61.5%64.7%68.5%57.3%61.4%65.5%
Hispanic/Latino65.9%68.8%71.9%67.0%69.7%72.4%64.7%70.4%75.5%
Native American58.7%59.2%60.0%59.0%64.0%70.6%51.6%57.2%62.9%
Pacific Islander57.1%56.7%56.3%****66.7%*
White65.5%72.4%79.3%65.3%71.6%77.8%60.1%67.3%74.7%
5thAfrican-American or Black73.4%80.8%88.5%80.0%83.0%86.4%73.1%76.6%80.5%
All Races Combined81.2%84.4%87.7%81.8%85.2%88.7%72.2%76.7%81.3%
Asian American82.6%85.6%88.9%79.3%83.4%87.6%75.6%78.0%80.4%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial77.9%81.6%85.3%80.6%82.4%84.3%72.3%74.1%75.8%
Hispanic/Latino81.8%82.1%82.4%79.9%82.6%85.3%71.6%76.3%80.2%
Native American68.0%72.8%78.6%71.3%71.0%70.6%62.8%65.2%68.6%
Pacific Islander73.7%80.0%85.7%71.8%78.1%*56.7%61.9%66.7%
White82.5%85.6%88.7%83.0%86.7%90.5%73.1%77.9%82.8%
8thAfrican-American or Black68.0%70.0%72.6%74.0%74.7%75.6%65.6%68.8%72.5%
All Races Combined72.8%75.8%78.8%72.2%75.3%78.3%64.1%67.9%71.6%
Asian American79.7%80.8%81.7%79.2%81.4%83.8%73.5%77.2%81.2%
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial67.6%69.1%70.5%66.5%67.9%69.3%59.8%61.7%63.2%
Hispanic/Latino62.0%66.7%71.1%68.2%70.9%73.5%56.7%61.5%66.3%
Native American62.9%59.8%55.7%57.9%57.4%56.7%53.9%52.6%51.0%
Pacific Islander61.5%69.2%84.6%*64.1%**64.3%*
White74.5%77.7%80.8%73.6%77.0%80.4%65.1%69.2%73.2%

About the Indicator:

For the first time in 2013, the Minnesota Student Survey (MSS) included modified items from Child Trends Flourishing Children Project. Educational engagement comprises the following MSS questions:

  • How often do you care about doing well in school?
  • How often do you pay attention in class?
  • How often do you go to class unprepared?
  • If something interests me, I try to learn more about it.
  • I think the things I learn at school are useful.
  • Being a student is one of the most important parts of who I am.

Response options for each of the last three items above are: strongly agree (coded as 4), agree (coded as 3), disagree (coded as 2), and strongly disagree (coded as 1). Response options for the first three questions were: all of the time, most of the time, some of the time, and none of the time--these were coded as 1 through 4, with the most positive response scoring 4 and the least positive response scoring 1. An educational engagement score can be created by summing the values for each question, obtaining a range from 6 to 24. Higher levels of educational engagement are measured as students reporting an overall score of 18 or higher; this corresponds to an average score of 3 or higher per question.

In 2019, compared to 8th, 9th, and 11th graders who reported lower levels of educational engagement, more engaged students were 2.4 times less likely to report past-month alcohol use; 2.4 times less likely to report tobacco use; 3.2 less likely to report past-month marijuana use; and 3.0 times less likely to report past-month prescription drug misuse.

For more, see the Educational Engagement and Substance Use 2018 SUMN Fact Sheet.

Data Source: Minnesota Student Survey (MSS)

Description: The MSS is a confidential and anonymous self-administered survey given to students attending Minnesota public, charter and tribal schools. From 1995 to 2010, the survey was administered to students in 6th, 9th, and 12th grades. New in 2013, the survey was administered to students in 5th, 8th, 9th, and 11th grades. Trend data are now only available for 9th graders, and only for survey questions that did not change. Most schools elect to participate in the survey; in 2013, this included 84% of public schools in Minnesota.

Although the data are not presented here, the survey is also administered to area learning centers, juvenile correction facilities and private schools electing to participate.

Sponsored by: Minnesota Department of Education

Geographic Level: State, Region, and County

Aggregated data at the state and county level do not reveal disparities that may exist within a given geographic area.

Frequency: Data collected and reported every three years

Characteristics: The results of the MSS are also available at a county level. Data Privacy requirements mandate that data is presented in a manner such that no individual student can be identified through the presentation of the results. As part of the Data Privacy practices, the results are also presented in a manner that no individual school district could be identified through the results. Therefore, for counties that have only one school district, the results are not presented. Results are also withheld for counties in which the minimum number for student participation was not met.

The MSS is a “census” of schools, not a sample. The school districts get their own data. Fifth-graders were not asked all substance use questions. Some school districts do not participate, and student participation within the school district can vary widely. These data are self-reported.