Michigan’s third graders showed slight improvement in their reading scores in the 2018 school year. However, the gains are not enough to stave off criticism of the state’s early literacy efforts.
The 2019 M-STEP assessment finds just over 45 percent of third graders are proficient in English language arts. That figure is a mere seven-tenths of one percent higher than 2018.
Next year, the stakes will be much higher. Students who score below proficiency in English language arts will repeat third grade.
Brian Gutman is with the nonpartisan research group Education Trust Michigan says the fact that 55 percent of third graders can’t read at grade level should be a wake-up call.
“That’s really concerning,” says Gutman. “This comes four years after enacting a policy to identify students who are struggling early, to provide them with supports…and spending about $120 million on literacy efforts in the state.”
Overall, elementary math scores improved in 2019 while the state reported drops in social studies proficiency in grades five, eight and 11.
