As Michigan reading scores fall, state superintendent says: ‘We need to improve.’

Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.

Michigan third grade reading scores continued to slide in the state’s most recent standardized tests this year, even as schools began to implement reading reforms.

Just 38.2% of third grade students in Michigan are proficient in English Language Arts, down from 38.9% the previous year, according to results released Friday from the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, commonly known as the M-STEP. Students took the tests in spring 2026.

It’s the lowest third graders have scored in the 12-year history of the exam. The news comes after leaders have tried a variety of efforts over the last decade to improve reading scores with literacy coaches, optional teacher training, and a short-lived law to retain struggling third graders.

Meanwhile, fourth through seventh grade reading scores are also down from the previous year. Just 44% of students grades 3-8 are proficient in reading, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of M-STEP and PSAT 8/9 tests.

“We need to improve the results of all these assessments for our students moving forward,” said State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. “Michigan proficiency rates are not where we want them to be. We must increase proficiency rates in all subjects and areas, and in all grades. And we must do this over time, showing steady improvement in all areas.”

Use the tool to search your local district’s test results.

It’s the first M-STEP release since Maleyko took over the Michigan Department of Education last December. The tests measure if students are able to achieve skills outlined in state standards.

Only 35.5% of students grades 3-8 are proficient in math.

Many proficiency rates moved less than one percentage point, which MDE acknowledged in a news release.

“Most proficiency rates are essentially flat when compared to 2025 results on the tests, with the rates on all except four of 20 tests staying within 2 percentage points of the numbers in 2025 and most staying within a percentage point,” the department said.

Other takeaways include:

• Math proficiency is up in third and sixth grades compared with last year, down in fifth grade and flat in fourth and seventh grades.
• Fifth grade science and social studies proficiency is down.
• Eighth graders improved their proficiency in social studies but results dropped in science.
• In the 11th grade, science and social studies proficiency is up but performance is down in reading and math

Brian L. Love, state director of EdTrust-Midwest, praised the state’s recent boost in funding for at-risk students and literacy reforms but said more must be done, calling the results “extremely troubling.”

“Funding alone is not enough. The state should put in place fiscal accountability and transparency systems so that the dollars reach the students in their schools.”

Venessa Keesler, president and CEO of Launch Michigan, said Michigan has taken the right steps, including passing legislation that requires literacy training for K-5 educators.

“It is too bad the results aren’t better, but the results are just a symptom of a system that hasn’t been set up for success. But we’re making the right moves toward them.”

Socioeconomic gaps persist

The third grade reading proficiency rate for noneconomically disadvantaged students is more than twice the proficiency rate of economically disadvantaged students.

The gap is even wider for third grade math: 28.8% of students who are economically disadvantaged are proficient compared to 60.5% of students who are not economically disadvantaged.

What to know about key districts in the state:

• Detroit Public Schools Community District, the state’s largest district, saw gains in reading and math. In third grade, 14.1% of students are proficient in reading, up from 12.9% the previous year. In math, 20.1% are proficient, up from 15.7%.
• In Grand Rapids, third grade reading made a slight gain from 19.6% reading proficiency to 20.1%. Math increased from 19.6% to 23.5%.
• Lansing School District saw gains in reading proficiency in third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades. But proficiency declined in seventh and eighth grades.

In Ypsilanti Community Schools, the results mirrored the state: Small declines in most areas, with exceptions in English language arts for fifth and seventh graders. The biggest gains in grades 3-8 were for eighth graders taking the PSAT, who went from 39.8% proficiency in English language arts to 46.8%. In math, the eighth graders went from 10.1% proficiency to 19.5%.

Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross told Chalkbeat that the district’s own assessments, given to students multiple times during the school year, tell a more encouraging story.

“We’re seeing that 80% of our scholars are growing, and that’s what’s really important because many of our scholars come to us behind,” she said.

The results are impacted by a number of factors, including attendance. Nearly half of the district’s students are considered chronically absent, meaning they’ve missed 18 or more days in a 180-day school year. Assistant Superintendent Carlos Lopez said students frequently missing school affects student performance on state and district assessments.

“Students who have great attendance that are not chronic perform significantly better,” Lopez said. “Attendance matters.”

Zachary-Ross and Lopez said strong partnerships with parents and in the community are key to efforts to improve student achievement. So has been adopting strong curriculum, such as the HMH Into Reading, which is among those the state has approved. The district has also put emphasis on training, intervention, tutoring, and other efforts.

“We’re leveraging everything we can,” Lopez said.

Test scores are important and help shine a light on data that informs decisions, said Kevin Polston, superintendent for Kentwood Public Schools. But he said it’s just one piece of information.

“It’s important for us to take time to digest the data, look at the other sources of data for the things that matter for us, and keep designing plans for each of our individual students to thrive in Michigan,” said Polston, whom Whitmer this week named chair of the newly-formed Every Child Reads Champions Council, which will advise and strengthen Michigan’s statewide literacy plan.

His district had some gains and declines in English language arts, while there was mostly growth in math. The gains in math come as the district just started its third year using a new math curriculum.

The new HMH Into Reading curriculum launched this school year, replacing a district-created curriculum that had been in place for 20 years. The district’s previous curriculum was good, but required a lot of time and resources to keep it current and teachers trained, Polston said.

MDE also shared information on what it is doing to improve student proficiency.

It plans to release the “Michigan Mathematics Framework” this fall that will include “a shared vision for mathematics learning; evidence-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and coordinated systems for mathematics,” according to a news release. MDE is also creating a committee focused on science, technology, engineering, and math, commonly known as STEM.

State is focused on literacy, but results are down

These are the last state test scores that will come out before term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer leaves office. She has said literacy is her number one priority in her final year.

Voters will decide whether Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson or Republican U.S. Rep. John James will be the next governor.

Both candidates blamed the other party in their response to the scores and touted their education platforms.

“These test scores are not just numbers, they represent real Michigan children who are being left behind by a system that has failed them for far too long,” James said in a statement.

“Jocelyn Benson and Lansing Democrats have failed our students, failed our teachers and failed Michigan families at every turn. This is the civil rights issue of our time.”

Meanwhile, Benson said: “These scores are deeply troubling, and Michigan families deserve better. We are here after decades of Republicans defunding Michigan schools at a higher rate than any other state instead of doing what’s necessary to help every student succeed.”

Both candidates called the school system “broken.”

Maleyko emphasized that laws aimed at improving literacy are not fully in effect yet. He said the Legislature, governor, State Board of Education, and educators needed to work together to improve outcomes.

Among those changes is a requirement that school districts use evidence-based reading instruction and screen students for characteristics of dyslexia by the 2027-2028 school year.

Under a new law signed this summer, elementary teachers will be required to complete science of reading training by the 2031-2032 school year. Some school districts will receive state help as they work to fully train their teachers. Michigan also has funding for literacy coaches, vetted curriculum, and teacher training.

If a district uses a literacy curriculum not from a state-vetted list and fails to inform parents, the district loses its state funding. But MDE does not have a mechanism where districts report what curriculum they use because state law doesn’t allow the department to “require a new report to be submitted unless state or federal law requires or authorizes the report,” said MDE spokesman Bob Wheaton.

The law requiring the parent notification kicked in during the 2025-26 school year, and Wheaton said thus far, no districts have lost funding because they didn’t comply.

While department officials emphasize the need to improve literacy, they caution that state test scores are only one way to measure student achievement.

Delsa Chapman, a deputy superintendent at MDE, told Bridge that “if a student is not proficient or partially proficient, that does not mean that the student cannot read.

“On that one test in time, their demonstration of mastering the standards is determined through a proficiency rating. But that absolutely, again, does not state or say that the student cannot read or cannot do mathematics.”

Who gets tested in Michigan

Third through seventh graders in public schools throughout the state take the English language arts and math test.

Fifth grade students also take a science and social studies test. Eighth grade students take the PSAT 8/9 test for English language arts and math and the M-STEP for science and social studies.

Ninth graders take the PSAT 8/9 while 10th graders take the PSAT 10.

In 11th grade, students take the SAT, WIN Readiness Assessment, and science and social studies M-STEP.

Some students with disabilities take the MI-Access tests instead of the other tests.

Isabel Lohman is a reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Chalkbeat Data Reporter Kae Petrin contributed to this report.