Meeting the Moment - 2025 State of Michigan Education Report - EdTrust-Midwest

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle

Meeting the Moment: 2025 State of Michigan Education Report analyzes learning losses after the pandemic and explains how Michigan’s long-term underinvestment has limited academic recovery. The report presents state assessment and recovery scorecard findings showing persistent gaps in reading and math, with especially large disparities for low-income students, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. It outlines urgency amid potential federal policy changes and recommends targeted investment, stronger fiscal transparency and accountability, and future-focused innovation to help students recover and accelerate.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages48

Reading Time2 h 1 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

The Promise of Public Education

Michigan’s Failure to Thrive

Meeting the Moment: A Policy Agenda

Invest Now, and Wisely

Implement Stronger Systems of Fiscal Transparency and Accountability

Innovate for the Future

The Urgency of the Moment

Conclusion

Endnotes

Michigan Achieves! Indicators

Acknowledgements

May 2025 Meeting the Moment 2025 State of Michigan Education Report [edtrustmidwest.org](edtrustmidwest.org) Bridging Education Policy & Community EdTrust-Midwest works for the high academic achievement of all Michigan students in pre-kindergarten through college. Our mission is to make Michigan aTop Ten education state for all groups of students, no matter their background, socio-economic status, or race. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary II. The Promise of Public Education III. Michigan’s Failure to Thrive IV. Meeting the Moment: A Policy Agenda 1. Invest Now, and Wisely 2. Implement Stronger Systems of Fiscal Transparency and Accountability 3. Innovate for the Future V. The Urgency of the Moment VI. Conclusion VII. Endnotes VIII. Michigan Achieves! Indicators IX. Acknowledgements MEETING THE MOMENT: 2025 STATE OF MICHIGAN EDUCATION REPORT • EDTRUST-MIDWEST 3 I. Executive Summary By Jen DeNeal, Director of Policy and Research, and Charlotte Pierce, Senior Policy Analyst Five years after the worst pandemic in a century, America’s students continue to face significant learning losses resulting from the disruptions. Here in Michigan, students also continue to feel the impact of the pandemic. And today, their learning outcomes lag behind leading states in key subject areas. Michigan’s lackluster performance has been the result of underinvestment in public schools for more than two decades. The pandemic was devastating forchildren across the country, but due to Michigan’s lack of investment over the years, our schools were not well positioned to recover academically and, unsurprisingly, pandemic recovery is not going well. Students and their families – particularly students from low-income backgrounds – are bearing the brunt of the cost of Michigan’s chronic disinvestment. Despite improvements in Michigan’s school funding in recent years1, Michigan still ranks in the bottom ten states in funding weights for students from lowincome backgrounds, but in the top ten states when it comes to the foundation allowance – or amount that districts receive for every student, according to an updated analysis by EdTrust-Midwest. To make sure students from every background have the opportunity to achieve at high levels, Michigan leaders should invest intentionally – not simply increase overall funding. Instead, policymakers should specifically target resources to students in our state with the greatest needs. These investments take on greater urgency amid changes happening at the federal level. Michigan’s public schools face great uncertainty as President Donald Trump’s administration begins to make sweeping changes to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, which works to close gaps in school funding for states and acts as a watchdog to ensure students of every background have access to public education. The planned changes could have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of Michigan’s students, especially students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, first-time college-goers who are applying for financial aid, and multilingual learners – all of whom benefit from crucial federal funding and support. In EdTrust-Midwest’s latest State of Michigan Education report, Meeting the Moment, we explore the data, research and the reasons leading up to the academic crisis we see today for students across our state. We also explore research-based solutions necessary to protect our students and help our students recover and accelerate. Now is the time for collective leadership across sectors to meet the moment, especially for vulnerable students who have been underserved for decades. Here’s what we found: • In 2024, Michigan ranked 44th in the country for 4th grade reading and 31st for 8th grade math, and the state’s learning recovery trajectory so far does not paint an optimistic picture.2 • According to the Education Recovery Scorecard, Michigan students in

FAQs

What learning challenges does the report highlight for Michigan students after the pandemic?

The report says students continue to face significant learning losses and that learning outcomes lag behind leading states in key subjects like reading and math. It also notes persistent gaps between 2019 and 2024.

What factors does the report identify as drivers of Michigan’s slow recovery?

It attributes Michigan’s lackluster performance to underinvestment in public schools over more than two decades, arguing that this limited schools’ ability to recover academically after the pandemic.

What policy actions does the report recommend to address the crisis?

The report calls for intentional investment targeted to students with the greatest needs, stronger systems for fiscal transparency and accountability, and innovations to prepare for the future.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle