Many Michigan third-graders are still falling short of reading at or above grade levels. That’s the bottom line of the latest M-STEP test results released this week..

The results show less than 40% of the students passed the reading portion of the test.

State Schools Superintendent Michael Rice says students are still struggling with the effects of poverty and the pandemic.

“If you were at the beginning of your reading window at the start of the pandemic, if you were pre-K or K-1, you were challenged by the pandemic,” Rice said. “It was one thing to be 17 at the beginning of the pandemic. It was another thing to be five at the beginning of the pandemic.”

Not all the news was bad. Dr. Rice also pointed out that the percentage of students who scored as proficient or advanced increased on 13 of the 20 tests.