In Michigan, third-grade students are struggling with literacy.
Educators say this grade is considered a critical year for all students, as it can determine just how well they do for the rest of their academic lives.
In recent years, M-STEP scores have dropped among this age group.
The Michigan Department of Education reports that third-grade students scored 39.6% proficient or above on the state’s English Language Arts (ELA) test for the 2023-24 school year.
This is compared to 40.9% in the 2022-23 year, 41.6% in 2021-22, and 42.8% the year before. Students didn’t take the M-STEP in the 2019-20 year, but in the school year before the pandemic, 45.1% of third graders were proficient in English Language Arts.
How local school districts scored on M-STEP
- Ann Arbor Public Schools: In the Ann Arbor Public Schools district, 60.1% of third graders were proficient in reading according to M-STEP scores. This is compared to 60% the year before. In the year before the pandemic, 67.3% of third-graders were proficient or above.
- Dearborn Public Schools: In this school district, 41.1% of third-grade students were proficient in reading, compared to 43.5% the year before. In the year before the pandemic, 46.7% of third graders were proficient in reading according to M-STEP scores.
- Detroit Public Schools Community District: In this school district, 11.7% of third-grade students were proficient in reading in the 2023-24 school year, compared to 12.4% in the school year prior. Before the pandemic, test scores showed reading proficiency at 11.9%.
- Plymouth-Canton Community Schools: In the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools District, 55.4% of third graders were proficient in reading according to 2023-24 M-STEP reading scores. This is compared to 58.5% the year before, and 61% in the 2018-19 school year.
- Wayne-Westland Community School District: In this school district, test scores showed that 20.9% of third graders were proficient in reading. This is compared to 22.4% the year prior, and 26.2% in the year before the pandemic.
How to check M-STEP scores for your school district
If you want to see how well your school or school district performed on the M-STEP test, you can use the database below.
Click here to check your district’s data
You are able to search by grade, from third to eighth grade for M-STEP and Mi-Access scores, and 11th grade for PSAT scores.
The database also allows you to search for scores from your entire district, or from just a specific school within that district.