MICHIGAN — Third-grade reading scores in Michigan fell to a ten-year low, according to the 2024 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress Results were published on Wednesday.
M-STEP test results showed that only 39.6 percent of Michigan third graders passed the spring English Language Proficiency (ELA) test.
Last year, according to test data, the figure was 40.9 percent, in 2022 it was 41.6 percent, and in 2021 it was 42.8 percent.
The test results also show that the reading skills of third-graders have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 45 percent of third-graders received a grade of “sufficient” or better on the test.
Grades 3 to 8 and grade 11 were tested in English and mathematics, while grades 5, 8 and 11 were also tested in science and social studies.
Reading levels remained largely unchanged in grades 4 through 8 and in grade 11, with the exception of eighth graders, who saw an increase of nearly 5 percent from the previous year, according to test data.
Reading scores for grades 3 through 7 were in the upper 30s and mid 40s percentile. For eighth-graders, the score rose from 60 percent to 65 percent, while for eleventh-graders it fell from 52 percent to 51 percent.
Math scores in grades 3 through 7 remained largely unchanged, while in grade 8 there was a decline of almost 4 percent, from 36 percent to 32 percent, according to test data.
The math scores of third to eighth graders were in the lower 40s and 30s percentile. Among eleventh graders, the proportion fell from 29 percent to 26 percent, according to test data.
Social studies achievement rates improved in all grades tested (5th, 8th, and 11th grades). According to the test data, achievement rates increased from 18 percent to 19 percent for fifth graders, from 28 percent to 30 percent for eighth graders, and from 36 percent to 40 percent for eleventh graders.
In science, performance rates improved in grades 5 and 8 and worsened in grade 11, test data show.
According to the test data, fifth-graders’ science scores increased from 39 percent to 40 percent and eighth-graders’ from 37 percent to 39 percent, while eleventh-graders’ science scores decreased from 39 percent to 37 percent.
“We are encouraged to see continued, incremental improvement in performance levels on most M-STEP and SAT/PSAT tests, particularly on the M-STEP math tests,” said State School Superintendent Michael F. Rice. “These results reflect the hard work of students and teachers, as well as the investments in education by the Governor and Legislature. Yet there remains much work to be done, both educationally and financially, to give students the support they need.”
You can check M-STEP results for individual school districts here.
