A Research Report From EPIC

Michigan’s 2024-25 Benchmark Assessments

Prepared for the governor and the House and Senate standing committees responsible for education legislation

November 2025

This is the seventh report in a series prepared and delivered to the governor and the Senate and House standing committees responsible for education law in the Michigan legislature. It is designed to help interpret and contextualize assessment results and students’ progress toward learning goals in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than five years since COVID-19’s unprecedented disruptions to learning and schooling began, student achievement trends in Michigan show signs of progress as well as enduring challenges. While students are making strong progress in math during the year, their short-term gains have not fully translated into longer-term growth. Although gaps in reading achievement are improving in upper grade levels, elementary-level reading achievement remains a major area of concern. Heightened variation in achievement across students poses new challenges for schools and educators, whose instruction and interventions must now address a broader range of learning needs than in the past.

Key findings include:

• Michigan students made large math gains in each of the past two school years, but only a portion of their 2023-24 gains persisted through the summer into 2024-25.
• Average reading scores remain stagnant, but gaps between the state’s highest- and lowest-performing readers are improving.
• Districts that were remote in 2020-21 are “catching up” to the rest of the state in terms of student growth but remain behind in achievement.