MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A nice report card was released for Minnesota students Wednesday — especially in math.

The percentage of students in third grade through eighth grade listed as proficient in math rose from 56 percent last year to 62 percent this year.

Reading scores on the standardized tests rose slightly from 74 to 76 percent.

“I am very pleased because what it shows is that we’re making progress and we’re moving the needle, and that’s what we need to do,” said State Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. “Significant movement in some of our sub-groups such as American Indian students, Hispanic students, African-American students, showing improvement.”

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

One factor that may have helped was the ability to take the math test up to three times. That’s because this was the first time the test was offered online.