Michigan's 2026 M-STEP results, released September 4, show third-grade English Language Arts proficiency falling to 38.2 percent, down from 38.9 percent in 2025 and the lowest mark since the exam began 12 years ago. The decline comes as the state prepares to fully implement a package of literacy and dyslexia laws passed in 2024, reforms that state education officials say are not yet reflected in the test scores.
The 2026 results show reading proficiency falling in every ELA test administered, according to the Michigan Department of Education. The decreases ranged from small declines in most grades to a 2.3 percentage-point drop in 11th-grade ELA on the SAT, which fell to 52.1 percent. Fifth-grade social studies proficiency fell to 27.5 percent. Overall, proficiency improved on only 6 of 20 state assessments, down from 14 the year before and marking a continued narrowing of bright spots since 2023, when 15 of 20 tests showed gains.
The Michigan Department of Education characterized most scores as essentially flat relative to 2025, with rates on 16 of 20 tests staying within 2 percentage points of the prior year. Still, the persistent decline in early-grade reading has drawn attention because it comes despite years of state investments in literacy coaching, optional teacher training, and a now-repealed third-grade retention law.
A decade of prior reforms did not halt the slide
Michigan's third-grade ELA proficiency has fallen steadily from about 40.9 percent in 2023 to 39.6 percent in 2024, then to 38.9 percent in 2025 and 38.2 percent in 2026. A decade of earlier reading initiatives, including literacy coaches and a short-lived law to hold back struggling third-graders, did not turn the trend. The third-grade retention law was later repealed, and scores continued to drop.
The 2025 M-STEP results had offered a more mixed picture. While 14 of 20 tests showed improvement over 2024—and grades 5 through 7 ELA and 4 through 7 math reached three-year highs—third- and fourth-grade ELA continued to decline. All grades remained below pre-pandemic 2019 proficiency levels in both ELA and math. That pattern of upper-grade recovery alongside persistent early-grade decline set the stage for the 2026 results, which show early reading slipping further.
New literacy laws approaching full effect in 2027-28
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bills 567 and 568 into law on October 10, 2024, as Public Acts 146 and 147. The laws require, starting in the 2027-28 school year, that all K-3 students be screened for characteristics of dyslexia at least three times per year using a valid universal screening assessment. Reading instruction and curriculum materials must be evidence-based and focused on foundational reading skills, as defined by the science of reading and structured literacy.
The Michigan Department of Education was required to publish a list of evidence-based reading curricula by January 1, 2026. By August 1, 2027, each school district must ensure its selected assessments include a reliable dyslexia screening. Public Act 147 requires that, starting September 30, 2027, the state must not approve any teacher preparation program that does not offer instruction on dyslexia characteristics, instructional adjustments, multi-tiered systems of support, and evidence-based methods grounded in the science of reading and structured literacy.
By the 2027-28 school year, districts must also assure the state that all literacy consultants, coaches, and reading instruction personnel have received professional learning about dyslexia, accommodations, and science-of-reading practices. As of September 2025, 5,183 Michigan educators had completed the LETRS training program—a course grounded in the science of reading and accredited by the International Dyslexia Association—and 6,806 were actively participating. The Michigan Department of Education has recommended making LETRS training mandatory, noting that voluntary participation for four years has not achieved full penetration.
MDE: Reform effects not yet in test scores
The Michigan Department of Education said in its September 4 press release that the 2024 literacy and dyslexia law is just now getting close to being fully implemented, and work is beginning on requirements from laws signed in July 2026. As a result, the state test results from assessments taken by students in spring 2026 do not yet fully reflect the benefits of the laws. No independent peer-reviewed evaluation of Michigan's specific reform package is yet available, the department noted.
The 2026 M-STEP results, in other words, establish a baseline against which the new mandates will be measured. The coming years will show whether a shift from voluntary to mandatory evidence-based instruction and screening corresponds with any change in the 12-year decline in early-grade reading.