Michigan K-12 Test Scores Continue Decline

Bridge Magazine reporter Chastity Pratt Dawsey joins Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to talk about the poor test scores.

Kalory Czifra

School is back in session, and the school year begins with some disappointing figures for our state.

The most recent statewide test scores show declining scores in literacy, and declines in most grades and testing subjects. These numbers come despite years of education reforms passed by the state legislature and governor.

An article in Bridge Magazine titled “Michigan is failing its students, as state test scores keep tanking” lays out the issue this way:

Despite years of education reform, millions of dollars in targeted spending, closures of underperforming schools and the impending threat of flunking third-graders who are more than a grade level behind in reading, scores on the M-STEP sank even lower this past school year in most grades and test subjects.

And trend lines are going in the wrong direction. More third-graders were poor readers in the 2017-18 school year than in 2016-17 ‒ marking the fourth consecutive year that the share of poor readers in Michigan third-grade classrooms has grown.

So what’s gone wrong, and what’s the fix?

Bridge Magazine reporter Chastity Pratt Dawsey joins Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to talk about the poor test scores. 

To hear their discussion, click on the audio player above.

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