(WWJ) Most Michigan third graders are still not making the grade when it comes to reading.
That's according to the latest M-STEP test scores, released Wednesday, Aug. 27, by the Michigan Department of Education.
More than 60% of the third graders who took the test did not score proficient in reading in Michigan's M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress) is a yearly standardized test given to students in grades 3 through 8 and 11.
Results show reading scores for third and fourth graders are sliding, as only 38.9% of third graders scored proficient or advanced on the test taken in the spring, compared with 39.6% in 2024.
In better news: State officials say Michigan students in most grades did perform better than last year in several subjects.
The report shows gains in 14 of 20 M-STEP tests. This includes five of seven English Language Arts (ELA) grade-level assessments, and in five of seven math grade-level assessments.
“It is noteworthy that in many grades, Michigan students posted the highest math and ELA proficiency rates in the last three school years,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, in a news release.
“At the same time, however, ELA scores in grades 3 and 4 remain a concern. Once fully implemented, historic 2024 laws to address early literacy and dyslexia will help substantially, but we must do more to improve literacy skills of young readers. The Michigan legislature needs to provide our children with lower class sizes in high-poverty K-3 classrooms, more in-person instructional time, funding for more research-based, early literacy materials that help drive improved student achievement, and mandatory training in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) on the science of reading for teachers and administrators in grades K-5 and all literacy coaches. These research-based measures would also help students improve their reading skills.”
In releasing these numbers, education officials noted that some Michigan students continue to recover from disrupted learning that originated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rice said declines in ELA proficiency rates for third and fourth grade demonstrate the need for the state to continue implementing research-based measures to help improve early literacy achievement.
Get more data from the report at this link.