Michiganders may be scratching their heads at a state report claiming nearly 100% of its public school teachers are effective.
The state released its teacher ratings for the 2024-25 school year, which ranked a whopping 98% of K-12 teachers as effective.
The report doesn’t explain why student outcomes are still abysmal.
According to spring 2025 standardized testing, less than half (41%) of elementary students can read at grade level and only 36% are proficient in math. Among 11th graders, scores aren’t much better, with 55% passing muster in reading and a meager 28% in math.
Molly Macek, education policy director at Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, blames local districts for not rating teachers accurately.
“There is a significant disconnect between what the teacher evaluation is supposed to be measuring and what the [ratings] produce,” Macek told The Lion. “It sends the message that [parents] really can’t trust this data that the districts are sharing as an accurate reflection of how their school or the teachers are actually doing.”
Due to recent changes in state policy, teacher ratings are less dependent on student data and outcomes. Local districts therefore have the freedom to be too lax, Macek notes.
