Michigan Schools Implement Literacy Improvements as Students in Most Grades Make State Assessment Strides

State Superintendent Says More Work Needs to Be Done

LANSING – With the 2025-26 school year underway, local school district administrators and educators are working to implement improvements to teaching early literacy that will benefit students as they learn to read and write.

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) literacy team updated the State Board of Education during its meeting Tuesday about progress in carrying out historic 2024 laws to address early literacy and dyslexia. Board members also learned more about recently released student results on 2025 state tests that showed improvement in five of seven English language arts (ELA) grade-level assessments, five of seven math grade-level assessments, and 14 of 20 tests overall.

“As the new school year begins, local districts around the state are preparing to begin using high-quality literacy materials, literacy interventions, and literacy professional development that they selected from resources approved by MDE and funded by $87 million in the state School Aid Act,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “This investment in our children from the governor and legislature will pay off. While student proficiency is improving on most state assessments, lower proficiency rates in third- and fourth-grade ELA show we have more work to do.”

The 561 local and intermediate school districts approved for literacy materials, interventions, and professional development under Section 35m of the state School Aid Act are required to submit their budgets for spending the funds to MDE next week to be eligible for October payments. Districts that meet the deadline will receive their awarded funding in their October state aid payments—as long as a state budget is passed in time.

Also as part of the new laws, MDE sent certified letters to parents or guardians of all students who completed third grade last year and scored not proficient on the ELA state assessment.

“Research-based literacy materials in our schools, interventions to help early elementary school students who are having difficulties learning to read, and professional development for literacy educators are all important parts of the plan to improve early literacy achievement,” said Dr. Delsa Chapman, MDE deputy superintendent of the Division of Assessment, School Improvement, and Systems Support. “Our local districts have demonstrated they are committed to improving literacy achievement. At MDE, we are doing all we can to support them.”

In addition to the 35m funding, MDE will be awarding $10 million through a competitive application process to fund innovative literacy initiatives that the districts developed. The Michigan Department of Education received 115 Section 35n applications. The Committee for Literacy Achievement members completed their review of the applications in August. MDE has identified 39 applicants to advance to the next phase of the competition. Winning applicants will be named in the coming weeks.

MDE officials also are advocating for the state legislature to take additional actions to improve student literacy. The four key requests are for legislators to:

• Make Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training on the Science of Reading mandatory for grades K-5 early literacy educators, literacy coaches, and administrators.
• Lower class sizes in high-poverty grade K-3 classrooms.
• Increase in-person instructional time.
• Additional high-quality, researched-based literacy materials to schools.

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