Chalkbeat

Education news. In context.

Chalkbeat

M-STEP

M-STEP Time

Detroit
April 4, 2019

M-STEP: a parent’s guide. What you need to know before your children take Michigan’s mandatory exams

Monday will mark the beginning of Michigan’s annual testing season — eight weeks that will help determine whether all the academic lessons and…
Detroit
September 21, 2018

Rise & Shine: Michigan to DeVos: Please give refugee students a break

Good morning! Refugee children who’ve fled wars in the Middle East in recent years must deal with the after effects…
Detroit
September 7, 2018

Rise & Shine: These are Detroit’s most improved schools

Good morning and happy Friday! If you care about schools in Detroit, you’ve surely read many headlines in the last…
Detroit
August 31, 2018

Rise & Shine: Can Detroit be the ‘best city in America’ for teachers?

Good morning! Teachers were scrambling this week to get their classrooms ready for the first day of school on Tuesday.
Detroit
August 29, 2018

M-STEP and SAT scores are out. How did your school do?

Detroit third-graders made slight improvements in reading according to this year’s test scores — an encouraging sign as a tough new law will…

Falling

Detroit
August 29, 2018

Michigan is failing its students, as state test scores keep tanking

Despite years of education reform, millions of dollars in targeted spending, scores on the M-STEP sank even lower this past school year in most grades and test subjects.

NEW DATA

Detroit
August 29, 2018

Test scores spell trouble for the most struggling schools in Detroit and across the state. See how your school stacks up.

A year later, test results show that schools that were threatened with closure are still struggling to hit the targets laid out in their contracts with the state.

losing ground

Detroit
March 6, 2018

Study: Michigan reading scores ‘going in the wrong direction’ despite major state investment in helping young children read

Third-grade reading scores 6 percentage points in Michigan while scores in other states climbed or stayed relatively flat in the same period.

Mid-year progress report

Detroit
January 24, 2018

Higher reading scores predicted for Detroit’s third-graders, but superintendent warns ‘a lot can happen’ before final exams

Nikolai Vitti says the district’s youngest students are moving in the right direction in reading — but he warned not to expect improvements in math this year.

Scoring schools

Detroit
October 10, 2017

How many kids can read by third grade? How many schools offer health services? This is how the Detroit schools plan to measure their success

The Detroit school board is expected to vote Tuesday on its new strategic plan that spells out the "essential metrics" the district will use to measure success.

Week In Review

Detroit
September 1, 2017

Week in review: What last year’s test scores tell us as a new school year begins

It’s hard to feel hopeful when fewer than half of third-graders are proficient in English but a new school year means a fresh start.

Week In Review

Detroit
April 14, 2017

Week in review: Open Meetings Act violation postpones superintendent discussion

The Detroit school board now plans to discuss (and possibly vote on) the two finalists at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday night

whiplash

Detroit
September 28, 2016

Here’s which Detroit schools could be closed, as confusion about their future deepens

What happens next in the whiplash-inducing school closure fight remains unclear and seems likely to end up in the courts. Here’s what we know — and what we still don’t.

By the numbers

Detroit
August 30, 2016

Sinking test scores won’t help Detroit Public Schools as closure threat looms

The results from the 2016 M-STEP, released Tuesday, offer little good news for Michigan’s largest school district.