Cloquet Middle, Cloquet MN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Cloquet Middle

Cloquet Middle School serves grades five through eight in the Cloquet Public School District, a regular public school in a small city that sits at the junction of I-35 and Highway 33, about a 20-minute drive southwest of Duluth. The city has a distinct small-town identity, often called “Wood City” for its sawmill origins and known locally as a hockey town. Part of Cloquet lies within the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, and the city acts as one of the reservation’s administrative centers. The largest local industries are health care, retail trade, and manufacturing. The housing market is modestly priced relative to state and national benchmarks, and the city’s population has seen a slow decline in recent years.

The middle school itself enrolls a substantial number of students for a mid-sized town’s grade 5-8 building. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with a notable proportion of households under economic pressure. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Native American presence, a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races, and small Hispanic, Black, and Asian populations. This composition mirrors the community’s broader demographics.

On state assessments, Cloquet Middle’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands below the midpoint when compared with other schools in Carlton County. In math, proficiency rates across grades five through eight cluster in a range that is soft relative to state averages; roughly half of students or fewer met proficiency benchmarks in each grade, with grade six and seven results at a similar level and grade five and eight slightly higher. In English language arts, the picture is mixed. Grade five posted a proficiency rate well above half, a relative bright spot, while grade six and grade eight came in around the halfway mark, and grade seven dropped to a notably weaker showing. In science, which is tested in grades five and eight, the results are a significant soft spot. Fifth-grade science proficiency landed at roughly a quarter of students, and eighth-grade science proficiency was markedly lower, a pattern that a parent may want to look into further with the school. The science assessment underwent a name change and a cut-score change in the recent testing year, which means direct comparisons with prior years are not reliable.

The school does not offer high school programs, so there is no graduation rate to report. No data on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, course access, or discipline were available in the information provided, which limits a full picture of the school environment. The district’s recent publicly reported changes were minimal, with no major policy or program shifts identified.

For a family considering Cloquet Middle, the school sits in a community with a strong outdoor recreational identity, including a growing trail system, proximity to the St. Louis River, and access to Duluth’s urban amenities. The academic landscape shows a school where a sizable portion of students are meeting standards in English language arts in the earlier middle grades, while math and especially science achievement are areas of concern. The school serves a population with economic diversity, and parents may want to ask about supports for students who are not yet proficient and about recent efforts in science instruction given the very low eighth-grade results.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 46% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 39% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 51% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 14%

▲ 2 pts above state median

This schoolCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income75%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income68%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income47%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income59%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income59%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income52%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income50%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income34%Higher-income57%22 pp gap