A RESEARCH REPORT FROM EPIC

Michigan’s 2020-21 and 2021-22 Benchmark Assessments

October 2022

This report is part of a series aimed at understanding student learning and progress toward educational goals during the COVID-19 pandemic. MDE, CEPI, and MDH have worked with two university research partners—EPIC at Michigan State University and MEDC at the University of Michigan—for more than a year to compile the 2020-21 and 2021-22 benchmark assessment data districts provided under the “Return to Learn” legislation.

EPIC researchers used K-8 math and reading benchmark assessment data from the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years to investigate each of the following questions:

1. How did achievement trajectories of Michigan students throughout the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years compare to national or state trends from pre-pandemic? To better understand how much the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Michigan students, we examine how average scores on state-mandated benchmark assessments for K-8 students have progressed during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. We then compare students’ trajectories to national and Michigan-specific norms from pre-pandemic.
2. How did student achievement growth in 2020-21 and 2021-22 compare to typical year-to-year growth before the COVID-19 pandemic? We compare students’ growth on fall and spring benchmark assessments from 2020-21 and 2021-22 to national and state norms that each assessment provider established before the COVID-19 pandemic for students in the same grade level and subject with similar initial achievement scores.
3. How did achievement growth differ across subgroups of students? We compare patterns in student achievement growth across demographic subgroups as well as subgroups of students whose districts offered different modes of instruction (i.e., in-person, hybrid, or remote) in 2020-21 and students who received different modes of instruction in 2021-22.