Michigan K-8 students getting better at math since COVID slump, new report says

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EAST LANSING, MI – Elementary and middle school students across the state continue to take big steps forward in one of two academic areas but still haven’t recovered from the COVID-era classroom slump, according to a new report from Michigan State University.

The report, released by MSU’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC), cites big achievement hikes in math proficiency on benchmark assessments during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

K-8 students overall advanced from the 43rd to the 50th percentile in math between the fall and spring testing periods two years ago relative to pre-pandemic national averages.

Although only some of that progress carried over the summer of 2024, as scores fell to the 47th percentile last fall, math growth once again picked up, reaching a ranking in the 51st percentile by the end of 2024-25 that’s slightly above the pre-pandemic national norm and well above the state average in fall 2020.

Meanwhile, improvement in reading competencies varied over the last several years as gaps identified between Michigan’s highest- and lowest-performing readers narrowed in middle-school grades but remained stagnant among elementary-level readers’ results.

“It is encouraging to see Michigan students making gains in recent years on these reading and math assessments,” Interim State Superintendent Sue Carnell said in a statement Dec. 4. “Hard work by local districts and students is paying off.

“That said, we still have much room for further improvement in reading and math achievement, and we believe we should see more growth with the implementation of new literacy and dyslexia laws.”

The Michigan Department of Education official cited other data, including highs in graduation rates, Advanced Placement participation and other performance markers as added evidence of progress at the state’s schools.

EPIC cited middle-school readers growth between spring 2021 and 2025 when the 10th and 25th percentiles of middle school reading scores increased. At the same time, the 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles remained the same, narrowing the gap.

Michigan’s State School Aid Act required school districts to administer benchmark assessments in reading and math to all K-8 students in the fall and spring of each school year between 2020-21 and 2022-23.

Since then, the state has funded districts that chose to continue the assessments, and the results of tests from state-approved providers are generally submitted through the MiDataHub to get funding.

EPIC’s analysis addresses results from roughly 764,000 of Michigan’s 941,000 K-8 students in 710 of the state’s 844 school districts. Benchmark assessment scores are typically approximated to proficiency levels with the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, the state’s assessment in math, language arts, science and social students in certain K-12 grades.

Despite marked improvements in benchmark areas, the EPIC report shows that disparities remain depending on what schools’ levels of access were between in-person instruction and remote learning during the pandemic.

The following graphs show the shifts in achievement for each of the last five academic years.

Gaps have also narrowed in reading achievement for specific student demographics after pandemic conditions exacerbated disparities.

By spring 2025, the report shows students of different racial groups and economic statuses not only recovered to fall 2020 achievement levels but surpassed them.

But in math, gaps between student subgroups remain larger than in fall 2020 and only slightly narrowed since spring 2021.

Overall achievement gaps across academic levels within classrooms remain wider than before the pandemic.

According to MSU, the lead author of EPIC’s report attributed some of the continued slump to ongoing challenges in instruction, staffing and curriculum design.

“Schools and districts may need to strengthen tiered support systems, expand access to interventionists and specialists, and ensure that curricula and assessment tools are appropriate for addressing a broader spectrum of student needs,” Tara Kilbride, associate director of EPIC, said in a statement. “Continued professional learning and resource investment will be crucial to support teachers in meeting their students where they are.”

You can read more about the EPIC benchmark assessment study here.

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