DPSCD Superintendent highlights student improvement in Detroit schools

DETROIT, Mich. (FOX 2) - Despite facing challenges in math, reading, and attendance, officials from Detroit Public Schools say their schools are slowly making progress. 

"We’re improving, were back to the reform despite the challenges of the pandemic" said Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti, following his State of the Schools address on Wednesday. "The message last night was about celebrating and recognizing the improvement (of students), which the district has not seen over the years."

However, there is still a lot of work to be done.

"I just feel like they need to do a lot better," said Misty Walker, a former DPSCD parent.

One crucial factor in evaluating children's reading and writing skills is through their level of proficiency – to see if they are performing at the expected grade level. 

M-STEP scores reveal that approximately 12.4% of third-graders throughout the district can read at or above their grade level. Fourth graders demonstrated the highest level of proficiency in ELA, with a score of 14.8%, while fifth graders achieved the lowest score at 11.6%.

Although there was improvement in ELA test scores for fourth, sixth, and seventh graders compared to pre-pandemic levels, the scores still do not meet the criteria for being deemed sufficient or satisfactory.

"Those numbers don’t reflect pure literacy rates," Vitti said. "We can’t talk about students not being able to read, we can talk about students not answering enough questions to say that they are at (a) great level when you look at the standards." 

DPSCD plans on hiring more academic interventionists to provide targeted support for students who are lagging behind. The district has already received assistance from non-profits and religious groups to help get students to school.