When the 2025 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) scores were recently released, policymakers, educators and legislators rightly paid special attention to the English Language Arts (ELA) scores in third grade. Experts say that third grade is the most important year in a child’s ELA development because it’s when a child is “reading to learn” instead of “learning to read.”
While the statewide numbers showed discouraging results (61% of third-graders were not proficient in ELA), there were encouraging signs in Detroit, where charter schools led the way.
An analysis of third-grade ELA scores showed that five open-enrollment elementary schools in Detroit beat the statewide proficiency average of 38.9%. Four of them were charter schools while the fifth was a Detroit Public Schools Community District school. The five schools that beat the state average, and their third-grade ELA proficiency percentage:
Overall, 11 of the top 13 elementary schools in Detroit were charter schools.
“The scores overall still aren’t good, but it’s important to look for the schools that are beating the odds and showing signs of encouragement,” said Dan Quisenberry, President of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA), the state charter school association.
“Policymakers and legislators in Lansing would be wise to check out some of these charter schools in Detroit to see what they’re doing and why it’s working.”
Quisenberry pointed out that the country’s top education official, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, recently visited Pembroke Academy to see for herself how they’re doing such a remarkable job. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2024, the first Detroit school in more than 20 years to earn the honor.
Pembroke Academy, a charter school on the city’s northwest side, is authorized by Central Michigan University and managed by National Heritage Academies. The school opened in 2018 and consistently has the highest M-STEP scores in the city in every grade and every subject.
Principal Salwa Kinsey said they accomplish this by taking an innovative approach in which students are placed in a classroom based not on their age, but by their current level of proficiency. The school then develops an aggressive and individualized learning plan for each student to make sure they’re at grade level by the time they graduate in eighth grade.
“Secretary McMahon wanted to see for herself what’s working, so she visited Pembroke Academy,” Quisenberry said. “Every legislator Lansing should do the same thing. We’d also welcome Michigan’s new state superintendent to visit the school.”
Charter schools in Detroit consistently lead the way in every metric, including SAT scores and U.S. News and World Report rankings.
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