A Policy Brief From EPIC

Are Retention-Eligible Students Assigned to Highly Effective Teachers Under Michigan’s Read by Grade Three Law?

July 2023

Due to the important role that teachers play in shaping both educational and long-term life outcomes of students, policymakers often include mandates in education policies that require specific types of teachers to work with particular groups of students. However, the quality of teachers varies substantially, both between individual teachers and across different schools. This variability, especially across schools, can pose challenges to the implementation of teacher assignment mandates due to potential constraints on the availability of highly qualified teachers in certain schools. These constraints can be heightened in schools serving high percentages of historically marginalized populations.

While state legislators repealed the Law’s retention component in March 2023 (effective April 2024; 2023 PA 07), this policy brief focuses on the 2021-22 school year when the teacher assignment mandate was in effect and found:

1. Many Michigan students do not have access to a highly effective teacher
2. Retention-eligibility does not affect assignments to highly effective teachers
3. The presence of highly effective teachers does not influence assignments for retention-eligible students