Michigan students show improvement on most state assessments, while some early reading scores regressed

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) released its 2025 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress scores last week, showing improvement in the majority of state assessments.

The findings come from M-STEP and SAT/PSAT scores in the spring of 2025. And while those assessments offer an idea of student proficiency levels, they don't tell the whole story, according to MDE.

"The M-STEP assessments are rigorous and not meant to measure reading ability or math ability by themselves. They are meant to measure understanding of a broad set of rigorous subject matter standards. Because these assessments are high-bar tests, students who score partially proficient are not necessarily performing below their grade level, and many who are below the proficient benchmark are succe