The Michigan School Grades System report shows state-required school accountability measures under Public Act 601 of 2018.
The data represent measures the Michigan Legislature believes will improve Michigan’s national educational ranking. Up to eight indicators comprise a school’s School Grades report:
- Student proficiency on state assessments
- Student growth on state assessments
- Student graduation rates
- English Learner progress on the WIDA ACCESS assessment
- School proficiency compared with similar schools
- Student participation on state assessments
- Student on-track attendance (chronic absenteeism)
- Student subgroup proficiency compared with statewide subgroup proficiency
Note: Due to COVID, 2020-21 results contain some indicators based on state assessment data with lower that normal student participation rates. Caution should be exercised when interpreting results.
The School Grades system calculates letter grades and ranking labels for each indicator but does not calculate an overall letter grade or ranking label.
Some non-traditional schools do not receive letter grades or ranking labels. These schools indicated whether they complied with all applicable state and federal laws, and whether enrolled students made meaningful, measurable academic progress. These statuses are displayed at the bottom of a school’s report.
For more information, including downloadable data files, visit the Michigan School Grades System resource page.
For questions or feedback about the factors included in the School Grades Report, please contact the Michigan Department of Education at MDE-Accountability@michigan.gov or 877-560-8378 x3.
For questions specific to one school, please contact the school directly. Each School Grades Report includes a web address of the school or district that can be used to find contact information for that school. The Parent Dashboard also provides specific contact information for each school.
For website technical/navigation issues, please contact for the Center for Educational Performance and Information at cepi@michigan.gov.
Exploring the Michigan School Grades System report can answer questions like:
How do this school’s students perform on state assessments compared with similar schools’ students?
The Performance Among Peers indicator shows a letter grade, which represents how well a school’s students perform on state assessments compared to similar schools’ students. Below the letter grade, a graph displays the school’s performance relative to its peers. Schools with values above zero are performing higher than their peers while schools with values below zero are performing lower than their peers.
What percent of this school’s students are not chronically absent?
The On-Track Attendance indicator shows a ranking label which describes the school’s percentage of students that are not chronically absent. The graph below shows the actual percentage of a school’s students that are not chronically absent.
When reviewing state assessment-based indicators including Proficiency, Growth, and Performance Among Peers, it is important to check the Assessment Participation indicator. A low participation rate will have an impact on a school's assessment-based indicators and leads to questions like "Which students did not participate? Do these students have common characteristics such as qualifying for free or reduced-priced lunches, receiving Special Education, or race/ethnicity?"
You can find numerous resources on the MDE School Grades website, including downloadable files, a parent guide, calculation business rules, and other resources.
Assessment Participation – Aggregates student participation in state assessments across the content areas of English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Test events are included from M-STEP, SAT, PSAT 8/9 in grade 8, and MI-Access assessments. Grade 12 students are included if they were not previously included in grade 11 reporting.
Attendance – The on-track attendance indicator ranks the percent of students not chronically absent in a school. Students are defined as chronically absent if they have a cumulative enrollment of at least 10 days and have missed more than 10 percent of their scheduled days. This definition is used to calculate the percent of students NOT chronically absent.
Summary Status for Alternative Education Campuses – Certain school types are excluded from receiving letter grades and ranking labels in the School Grades Report. These schools are designated as “Alternative Education Campuses” and include:
- Special education center programs
- Strict discipline academies
- Adjudicated youth programs
- Schools with a focus on alternative education that enroll at least 90 percent of their students in alternative programs.
Reports for Alternative Education Campuses include a summary status of “Met” or “Not Met” and are comprised of two elements:
Compliance is self-reported by eligible Alternative Education Campuses and is assured by the individual school to show whether they are abiding by all applicable state and federal laws.
Academic Progress is determined by the Alternative Education Campus' meeting at least one of the eight academic indicators' targets using thresholds specifically tailored to Alternative Education Campuses.
English Learner Progress – Grades the rate of progress toward acquiring proficiency in English.
Graduation – Uses the same adjusted cohort calculation used in the School Index accountability system and also reported by the Center for Educational Performance and Information. Four-, five-, and six-year rates are calculated, and the best rate is used in determining an overall graduation rate letter grade for the school.
Growth – Aggregates the percent of full academic year students meeting adequate growth across the content areas of English language arts and mathematics. Scores are included from M-STEP, SAT, PSAT 8/9 in grade 8, and MI-Access assessments.
Performance Among Peers – Compares a school’s student proficiency to the average student proficiency from a group of 30 schools with similar numbers of students receiving free lunches, students with disabilities, and student enrollment.
Proficiency – Aggregates full academic year student proficiency across the content areas of English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Scores are included from M-STEP, SAT, PSAT 8/9 in grade 8, and MI-Access assessments. Grade 12 students are included if they were not previously included in grade 11 reporting.
School Identifications – The School Grades Report identifies high- and low-performing schools that meet certain criteria. High-performing schools are called Reward schools and low-performing schools are referred to as State Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools (State CSI). Schools identified as Reward or for State CSI will have this status indicated in a banner at the top of the School Grades report next to the school name. Due to COVID and limited data, these schools were not identified for 2020-21.
Reward Schools – Are schools identified annually as being high-achieving public schools. Any school not identified as a low-performing school and meeting the following criteria is identified as a Reward school:
- Schools that have earned a letter grade of “A” in any of the following indicators:
- Student Proficiency
- Student Growth
- Performance Among Peers
- OR, high schools with four-year graduation rates of at least 99 percent.
Due to COVID and limited data, these schools were not identified for 2020-21.
State Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools – Are schools identified as being amongst the lowest-achieving public schools in the state. They are identified every three years, with the next identification occurring after the spring 2022 state assessment cycle. The following criteria are used to identify State CSI schools:
- Schools that have earned a letter grade of “F” on all the following indicators:
- Student Proficiency
- Student Growth
- Performance Among Peers
- OR, high schools with four-year graduation rates under 67 percent.
State CSI schools are eligible to receive supports through MDE’s Office of Partnership Districts. Due to COVID and limited data, these schools were not identified for 2020-21.
Student Subgroup Comparison – A measure based on subgroup proficiency rates on state assessments compared to the same subgroup’s performance statewide. The student subgroup performance indicator assigns a rating label based on a school’s subgroups’ performance relative to the corresponding subgroup at the state-level.
