Michigan third-grade reading

With just one month before students are to take the state M-STEP, it’s uncertain what test they’ll take, or whether Michigan’s read-or-flunk law for third graders makes sense during a pandemic.

Tests are fine. But making kids worry they may be held back in third grade for poor reading skills in the middle of a pandemic is nuts.

"Flunking a student is immediately traumatic and is more likely to be experienced by those students who are categorized as poor, male and/or minority," the group of Upper Peninsula school superintendents writes.

Want to solve Michigan’s teacher shortage? A new report skips policymakers and asks the state’s teachers what they would do. More class support and financial incentives to new teachers would help, they say.

"We should be focused on how we ensure our education system does not fail our children, rather than throwing in the towel and inciting rebellion," writes Michigan's Senate majority leader.

Michigan has vastly improved access to state-funded preschool, but gaps remain. Should the state spend another $400 million to make its Great Start Readiness Program universal?

In what amounts to a mutiny against Michigan’s “read-or-flunk” law, school districts around the state tell Bridge they don’t plan to make students repeat third grade because of poor reading scores.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her second State of the State, says she’ll work around recalcitrant Republicans to fix roads, maintain Affordable Care Act protections and ensure students don’t repeat the third grade because of the reading law.

An estimated 5,000 students could be flagged to repeat third grade because of low reading scores. In her State of the State address, Whitmer will unveil a plan designed to help parents get around the Republican-backed law.

Hearing concerns from educators, Michigan’s Senate Majority Leader says he’s considering changes to the law that could flunk 5,000 third-graders in May.

Michigan’s Read by Grade 3 Law isn’t some scary new policy looming over local students – it’s an essential reform that’s already yielding real results that benefit our kids, says the author of this Guest Commentary.

Sabrina, 8, is caught in the crossfire of two state education crises – the state’s new third-grade “read-or-flunk” law and an explosion in the use of uncertified long-term substitute teachers in state classrooms.

Holding children back so they can achieve future success is not “punitive;” it is proactive.

The good news: Low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds who enroll in the Great Start Readiness Program become better readers than those who don’t. The bad news? One-in-three qualified kids still aren’t enrolled.

Bridge begins a series following four third-grade classes as they prepare for a test determining who moves on to fourth grade, and who stays behind.

Reading scores are going down in Michigan despite efforts. Maybe it’s time to redirect that early literacy funding toward reducing class size, says one teacher.

With thousands of children facing the possibility of having to repeat third grade if state reading scores don’t improve, the stress on young students, teachers and parents will be considerable.

Bridge spoke with 29 Michigan teachers in a Facebook group about the read or flunk law that hits third-graders this year. They’re dubious the law will improve literacy but have plenty of other ideas.

With the state’s read-or-flunk law beginning this year, Michigan’s efforts to help young readers appear to be falling flat.

Results from the state’s annual standardized test, given to students in grades 3-8, show faint signs of improvement. See how state students overall performed in the tests given last spring, and look up your own school.