M-STEP scores show 3rd graders continue to slide in reading, rebound in math

Michigan's third graders ― at a stage of development when stakes are high to master reading — slid in those scores on the state M-STEP test compared with 2023, while elementary schoolers largely improved in math, according to data made public Wednesday by the Michigan Department of Education.

The state test scores, from assessments students took in the spring, show third- and fourth-grade scores haven't rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. While 45% of third graders scored proficient or higher on the test in 2019, this year's scores show that number dipped below 40% for the first time, a grim milestone for students, educators and policymakers. Overall, statewide student performance on the reading and math tests varied: Most grade levels showed improvement on the test, particularly in math.

M-STEP results database 2024: Find scores from your school district here

Scores indicated that the state's youngest readers, who entered school in the height of the pandemic, are struggling.

This year, 39.6% of third-graders scored proficient or above on the state reading test, compared with 40.9% in 2023. While nationally parents and policymakers have advocated for stronger reading instruction, these scores follow some stalled efforts to improve reading instruction in Michigan by state lawmakers and others.

In a news release, officials with the Michigan Department of Education wrote that students considered impoverished and those who attended school online in the 2020-21 school year struggled on the test, further widening the achievement gap between students from low-income homes and students from wealthier homes.

"Being in the learning-to-read window — in preschool or early elementary grades — when COVID-19 hit also affected assessment results on average," wrote Michael Rice, state superintendent of instruction.

In the state’s largest school district, Detroit Public Schools Community District, 11.7% of third graders scored proficient or advanced on the reading test, compared with 12.4% last year. However, fifth graders’ scores increased quite a bit: from 11.6% proficient or higher in 2023, to 15.4% this year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. In math in Detroit, scores in most grades improved, and many proficiency levels passed pre-pandemic levels.

Statewide, math M-STEP scores did improve in third to seventh grade between the 2023-24 and 2022-23 school years. Reading scores improved in grades 5 and 7, stayed the same in sixth grade and declined in grades 3 and 4. Older students took either the PSAT or SAT in math and reading.

National researchers have echoed Rice's concerns about pandemic recovery, finding students haven't made up for losses sustained between 2019 and 2022, when schools were intermittently closed over fear of the coronavirus spreading and sickening children.

Following the release of M-STEP scores on Wednesday, EdTrust Midwest, an advocacy organization based in Michigan, called for more state funding directed to students from marginalized communities in a statement written by spokeswoman Jennifer Mrozowski.

"It’s clear from the M-STEP data that we need to urgently invest more in Michigan’s students with the greatest needs, so they not only catch up from pre-pandemic levels but also accelerate their learning," Mrozowski wrote.

Mixed results in reading

Third-grade reading scores have dropped every year since 2019, when 45% of students who took the test were proficient or advanced.

While the scores may show a need for more intervention in English Language Arts instruction in younger grades, whether that intervention is feasible in classrooms strapped for time and districts strapped for money is unclear. Federal aid for pandemic recovery has largely dried up.

The scores are also a reminder to education leaders such as Rice that state lawmakers have not passed legislation that advocates say would require schools to identify and help students with disabilities that contribute to reading struggles. Rice also wrote that the department will continue to encourage educators to take LETRS training, which emphasizes skills in phonics and how students process and identify sounds in words. More budget money in recent years has been directed to training educators, including $10 million in last fiscal year's budget for LETRS training .

Students considered economically disadvantaged across grades 3-7 performed significantly worse than students not economically disadvantaged, with 27.3% of economically disadvantaged students scoring proficient or higher, and 57.6% of not economically disadvantaged students scoring proficient or advanced.

Eighth graders who took the PSAT saw vast improvement, going from 59.7% proficient or above in 2023 to 64.5% in 2024.

Showing improvement in math

Rice hailed improvements seen in math scores in grades 3-7, which are still below pre-pandemic levels, but show students rebounding.

"We are encouraged to see continued gradual improvement in proficiency levels measured on most M-STEP and SAT/PSAT tests, particularly on M-STEP math assessments,” Rice wrote.

But, similar to reading, there were wide achievement gaps based on income, with 21.8% of economically disadvantaged students in grades 3-7 scoring proficient or higher on the math test, and 53.6% of noneconomically disadvantaged students scoring proficient or higher.

Eleventh graders, who take the SAT, scored lower on the math portion of the test this year than last year, with 29.9% scoring proficient or higher in 2023 and 26.3% scoring proficient or higher in 2024.

The results underscore larger tensions brewing around school funding this year after lawmakers didn't increase per-pupil funding for students for the first time since the 2020-21 school year. Leaders also made a major cut to mental health funding, which school leaders decried.

Lawmakers argued that schools ended up with more per-pupil funding due to a budget maneuver that saves schools nearly $600 million in retirement payment costs, but many school superintendents have not been convinced by the argument.

How students performed in metro Detroit

Here’s how students fared in some of the largest districts in metro Detroit:

• Detroit Public Schools Community District : The percent of proficient third and fourth graders declined from 2023 in reading, while proficiency levels for grades 5-8 increased. In math, proficiency levels increased in grades 3, 5, 6 and 7.
• Utica Community Schools: Third through seventh grade reading proficiency levels declined. Math proficiency is down in Utica for grades 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8.
• Ann Arbor Public Schools: Reading proficiency levels increased in every grade except for sixth grade, and all grade level reading proficiency levels remain below pre-pandemic levels. Math proficiency levels declined in grades 4, 7 and 8.
• Dearborn City Schools : Third grade proficiency levels declined in reading, while the percent of students scoring proficient or higher in all other grade levels tested increased. In math, the percent of students scoring proficient or higher increased in every grade except for third and eighth grade, where the percent of proficient students declined from 2023.
• Plymouth-Canton Community Schools : Third- and sixth-grade proficiency levels in reading declined while levels increased in all other grades, with the percent of proficient sixth-graders declining from 58.2% in 2023 to 53.7% in 2024. In math, proficiency levels declined in grades 3, 5, 6 and 8, and increased in grades 4 and 7.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com and Kristi Tanner: ktanner@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: M-STEP scores show 3rd graders continue to slide in reading, rebound in math