Why haven’t you seen your child’s M-STEP or SAT scores yet?

Parents in Michigan should soon receive individual reports of their children's state test scores from the 2023-2024 school year – if they have not already done so.

Each district is responsible for providing families with reports containing scores from the Michigan Student Test of Education Progress (M-STEP) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test and its pretests, the SAT and PSAT.

However, a printing error in the report delayed the state's publication.

“The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has a third-party vendor that sends the results for each student to the local school district or charter school to be shared with parents. Districts can decide when to share the results with parents,” MDE spokesman Bob Wheaton said in an email Friday, Aug. 30.

“This year, a printing error by the supplier was discovered, which resulted in a slight delay. The supplier is printing corrected letters that should arrive at local school districts and charter schools in early September. MDE apologizes to local schools and parents for any inconvenience this may cause.”

On Wednesday, September 4, Wheaton said it began distributing reprints of the reports this week.

The public release of M-STEP results generally occurs in the last week of August, when parent reports are sent to schools, Wheaton said.

MDE announced statewide, school- and district-specific results for the M-STEP, SAT and PSAT on August 28.

M-STEP is a state-mandated achievement test used annually to measure progress in the state's districts and schools and is taken by students in third through eighth grades and again in high school. The PSAT and SAT, administered by the College Board, are linked to students' college readiness and admissions criteria when applying to college and are taken by students in eighth and eleventh grades.

According to the state, the M-STEP scores are intended to provide parents and teachers with information about students' academic standing and where they may need additional support.

But how do you read the individual parent reports?

For students in grades 3 through 7, total scores appear at the top, along with two other characteristics. Performance levels include one of four measures, including failing, partially proficient, proficient, or advanced, while confidence intervals indicate the range of scores a student would likely achieve if taking the test again.

Depending on the topics included in the assessment, different performance indicators are displayed in other sections of the report.

Test results for eighth- and eleventh-grade students are organized similarly, but in a separate layout for parent reports, which may include indicators of college readiness and have subjects organized into domains with their own performance measures.

Parent guides are available on the MDE website in English, Spanish and Arabic for grades 3 to 7, and in English and Spanish for grades 8 and 11.

Third-, fourth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade students are assessed only in English Language and Literature (ELA) and mathematics on the M-STEP, while fifth-graders are also assessed in science and social studies on the test.

The PSAT and SAT test eighth-graders and high school students in English and math, and the M-STEP tests the other two subjects.

For more details, visit Michigan's official education data portal and the Center for Educational Performance and Information at www.mischooldata.org.