Published Online: February 19, 2015

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota continues to trail the rest of the country in on-time graduation for high school students of color.

An analysis by Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1zQPs4k ) found fewer than 60 percent of Minnesota’s black and Hispanic students finished high school in four years as of 2012-13. That rate was 49 percent for Native American students and about 78 percent for Asian-American students.

Minnesota was the only state to be in the bottom five for those four nonwhite student categories. The statewide four-year graduation rate was about 80 percent and is near the middle of the pack.

White students graduated on time at an 85 percent rate in Minnesota.

Brenda Cassellius, the state’s education commissioner, said the achievement gap is due in part to Minnesota’s tougher graduation requirements.

Achieve, a nonpartisan organization that works with states to boost academic standards, says only Minnesota, 22 other states and the District of Columbia fully prepare students for college or a career. Alissa Peltzman, the group’s vice president for state policy, said it’s “not sufficient or meaningful” to compare only graduation rates when gauging student preparation.

But Cassellius said stricter requirements aren’t a good enough reason fo…………… continues on Education Week News