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State Releases 2007 Minnesota Student Survey Data
12/19/2007 3:25 PM

(December 19, 2007 -- Roseville, MN; media release from the Minnesota Department of Education)  An inter-agency team from the Minnesota Departments of Education, Health, Human Services and Public Safety today released results from the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey, which is a voluntary and anonymous survey taken by Minnesota students in grades six, nine and twelve.

“Teaching our young people about health and safety begins at home,” said Education Commissioner Alice Seagren.  “It’s our hope that the results of the student survey provide parents and educators with some additional insights into important issues and challenges facing Minnesota students.”

The 2007 Student Survey was administered during the spring of 2007.  All Minnesota public school districts were invited to participate and 309 of the state’s 338 districts chose to do so.  

The voluntary survey, which is administered every three years, asks students questions about tobacco, alcohol and other drug use and attitudes, sexual behaviors, dietary behaviors, physical activity and unintentional injuries, violence and other topics.  

Before the survey is administered, parents are provided with an opportunity to view the survey and determine their child’s participation.  Students could also decline to take the survey, or if they took the survey, they could skip questions or stop taking the survey at any point.  The surveys are anonymous and answers cannot be traced back to an individual student.

The survey was taken by approximately 81 percent of sixth-graders, 76 percent of ninth-graders and 58 percent of twelfth-graders.  Overall participation across the three grades was 72 percent.   

View the Survey Data Tables by clicking on the PDF link below. These results should not be compared to results from previous years because the districts taking part in the survey vary from year to year and should be reviewed with the understanding that the data is self-reported by the students.  

The state also released Initial Trend Data  (click on the PDF link below), which only includes districts that have participated in the survey every year since 1992.    

“Overall, Minnesota’s students appear to be healthier and safer.  Yet, given recent high-profile tragedies involving alcohol abuse among young people, we should all be concerned about the large percentage of students who use and abuse alcohol,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Dr. Sanne Magnan. “Students, parents, schools and community members need to work together to identify positive ways to prevent young people from abusing alcohol and other drugs.”
 
“The statewide decline in methamphetamine use among students is very encouraging news and consistent with other meth-related trends,” said Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman.  “Although the meth problem has not disappeared, the magnitude of the problem has declined and Minnesotans should be relieved by that.”

Survey trends included:
  • Students reporting that they feel safe at school remained high at 93 percent of 12th-graders and 91.2 percent of 9th-graders
  • 12th-graders reporting that that they were physically active on five or more days in the past week increased from 36.9 percent in 2004 to 41.4 percent in 2007
  • Students reporting across all grades that they always used seatbelts increased between 2004 and 2007 -- from 58.6 percent to 66.4 percent for 6th-graders; from 50.5 percent to 58.2 percent for 9th-graders and from 57.3 percent to 61.7 percent for 12th-graders.
  • 12th -graders reporting that they used alcohol in the past year held steady at 62.7 percent, compared to 62.8 percent in 2004.   9th -graders reporting that they used alcohol dropped to 37.4 percent, down from 42.6 percent in 2004   
  • 12th-graders reporting that they binge drink (five or more drinks in a row during the past 2 weeks) remained steady at about 30 percent.   9th-graders reporting that they binge drink dropped from 15.3 percent to 12.6 percent
  • 12th-graders reporting that they drove a motor vehicle after using alcohol or drugs one or more times in the past year dropped to 24.1 percent in 2007, compared to 28 percent in 2004   
  • 12th-graders reporting they ride with friends after they have been using alcohol or drugs dropped to 36.8 percent in 2007, compared to 39.2 percent in 2004  
  • 12th-graders reporting that they plan on going to college increased to 85.7 percent, compared to 82.8 percent in 2004
  • Students reporting that they have smoked declined across all grades  
  • 12th-graders reporting that they used marijuana in the past year increased to 30.7 percent, compared to 27.1 percent in 2004
  • 9th and 12th-graders reporting that they used methamphetamine in the past year dropped between 2004 and 2007 -- from 4.9 percent to 2.2 percent for 12th-graders and from 4.2 percent to 1.5 percent for 9th-graders
“Traffic deaths are the leading killer of teenagers and this is largely due to the fact they still buckle up least often compared to any other age group," said Michael Campion, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.  “While the survey indicates teen belt use is increasing, it's clear education and enforcement efforts need to focus on increasing seat belt use to ensure needless traffic tragedies are prevented.”

Note: The Department of Education has provided districts with their survey results and encourages members of the media to contact local district officials for that data.

Get Acrobat Reader  MSS_07_State_Tables.pdf  
Get Acrobat Reader  Minn_Student_Sur-Initial_Trends.pdf  




Mission: The Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association is dedicated to promoting and improving education for children and youth, strengthening the role as educational leader for elementary and middle level principals, and collaborating with partners in education to assist in achieving these goals.

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