The number of Michigan third graders who are proficient in reading — a pivotal benchmark in education — has slid to its lowest point in the 10-year history of the state assessment test, according to results released Wednesday.

The results of the 2024 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, known as M-STEP, show that 39.6% of third graders statewide passed the state's English language arts (ELA) test, compared with 40.9% last year, 41.6% in 2022 and 42.8% in 2021.

The third-grade reading test results mean 60.4% of the state's third graders failed the test this past spring. The results come after years of efforts across the state to support K-3 student literacy through reading intervention services, the use of evidence-based curricula and instructional material, and intensive one-on-one tutoring. Local districts have been screening young students within the first 30 days of school, documenting reading intervention plans and contacting families.

State education officials said this year’s scores show that, on average, students learning remotely during the 2020-21 school affected progress. Students in grades 3 and 4 had lower proficiency rates than the students in the same grade the year before, they noted, adding that those students would have been at the beginning stages of learning to read in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten when their schooling was interrupted by the pandemic.