Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mstep Results topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Michigan reports modest gains on 2025 M-STEP; department ties results to class-size, materials and literacy priorities
Summary
State Department of Education staff reported 2025 M-STEP and College Board results showing proficiency gains in most grade/content categories and recommended legislative action including reinstating small-class grants, doubling one-time literacy materials funding and supporting mandatory LETRS training to improve early literacy.
State education officials presented statewide summative-assessment results on Sept. 9, reporting that 2025 scores exceeded 2024 in 14 of 20 tested grade-content categories on Michigan’s M-STEP and related college-board assessments.
Deputy Superintendent Delsa Chapman and assessment staff said M-STEP and the College Board measures (PSAT 8/9, SAT) serve different purposes: M-STEP is criterion-referenced to Michigan’s grade-level standards while the SAT suite also measures college readiness. Presenters cautioned that proficiency percentages vary across tests and grade bands; for example, M-STEP showed 42.4% of fourth graders at or above proficient in ELA and 39.4% in math in the data slides discussed.
Presenters emphasized that statewide summative assessments are a snapshot and are most useful as part of a balanced assessment system. The department reported increases in mathematics proficiency in grades 4–7 and ELA gains in grades 5–7, while early-grade (3–4) declines may reflect lingering COVID-era impacts on cohorts who were in preschool or kindergarten during pandemic years.
Staff reviewed subgroup trends and explained a counterintuitive result: a roughly 3-percentage-point drop in the share of students classified as economically disadvantaged can shift group membership and affect subgroup percentages. Officials also noted increases for many racial/ethnic groups and for students without disabilities; some subgroup changes were small and context-dependent.
In response to the results, MDE outlined legislative priorities: (1) class-size reduction in high-poverty K–3 classrooms (recommending reinstating a small-class-size grant program), (2) increased funding for high-quality early-literacy instructional materials (MDE noted a $87 million one-time FY2025 appropriation and asked that amount be doubled in FY2026), (3) more in-person instructional time by rolling back allowances that reduce in-person days (professional development counting as student days and up to 15 virtual days), and (4) mandatory LETRS training for early literacy educators (data on completions varied during discussion; presenters gave figures in the range of ~5,000–5,700 completers/participants).
