By: Joseph Poulos

Whitehall – The Michigan Department of Education has just released the M-STEP standardized test results
for the 2025-2026 school year and Whitehall third graders have claimed the top spot for math
and reading in the county.

The M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress) standardized tests are
computer-based and designed to show how proficient students are in math, reading and
science.

A mere 38.2% of third graders in Michigan were considered proficient in the English Language
Arts (ELA) section of the assessment this past year. This represents a consistent downturn from
previous years. According to the state, 61.8% of third graders did not meet the proficiency
standard in English for 2025-2026. Additionally, the state is reporting that 42.9% of third graders
scored as proficient in math. This leaves 57.1% of statewide third graders below standards in
math.

Whitehall’s third grade class sits atop the leaderboard with 55.5% of students being deemed
proficient in math. They were also given a score of 45.2% proficiency rate in English Language
Arts.

CJ Van Wieren, Superintendent of Whitehall District Schools, was ecstatic about the students’
performance on the tests.

“We are extremely proud of our students and staff for this accomplishment,” Van Wieren said.
“Ranking first in the county in both third-grade reading and math is a reflection of the hard work
of our students and the culture of learning and success our staff creates every day.”
The superintendent also made sure to credit the teachers who have prepared the children to
receive these results.

“Our Shoreline and Ealy staff do an outstanding job working together to build a strong
foundation for learning and prepare our students for continued success,” he said.
Still, with overall M-STEP scores on the decline over the last decade, Van Wieren noted that the
district’s future goals are to improve on these present scores overall.

“At the same time, we know there is still room to grow,” he said. “We are proud of these results,
but we are not satisfied. Our staff will continue looking at the data, improving our instruction, and
finding ways to help every student grow and be successful.”
With reading levels continuing to trend downward nationwide, there are multiple culprits at play.
Screen time for children has been linked to reading levels being at their lowest in the 21st
century.

To combat this, the state of Michigan established the Read by Grade Three law in 2016, a
quasi-mandate that insisted all students read efficiently at their grade-level by the end of third
grade. The law’s philosophy is heavily rooted in the theory of change, which seeks to establish
an outcome, typically quantifiable, before the change itself has occurred.
As it stands, test scores have shown that these goals are almost impossible to meet. To enforce
the action plan, the state had established a three-prong approach which utilized increased
support, early intervention and the threat of retention for those students who are struggling with
reading comprehension.

The aspect of retention, in this case, holding lower-performing students back from attending the
following grade level, has caused some controversy. In the spring of 2023, Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer amended the law so that students who did not meet reading requirements would no
longer be subject to retention.

It is worth noting that North Muskegon’s eighth grade class also topped the county in reading
proficiency with 78.3%. This is nearly a 5% jump from the previous school year which is
remarkable considering the fact that ELA scores in the United States have been on a
downswing in recent years.