Tri-City Sun

Birch Run Area Schools district ranked the 189th highest in college readiness statewide, based on its students’ performance on the 2022-23 SAT, according to the MI School Data.

Scores show that 27.2% of the 125 students assessed in the district were set for college at the time.

In the previous school year, 27.7% of 148 students tested hit the benchmarks.

Birch Run Area Schools district reported that 28.8% of their students were proficient in the math section of the SAT, while 49.6% fared well in the evidence-based reading and writing portion.

Overall, students in Michigan are still performing below pre-pandemic levels. According to NAEP results, their scores dropped an average of 6.5 points, and ethnic achievement gaps widened. Black students had a performance decline of 11 points between 2019 and 2022.

A recent study in the state suggested this could be caused by remote schooling. Students who learned remotely experienced more learning loss compared to those who attended in-person classes during the pandemic.

"This is hurting kids in ways we can't even imagine, and not just academically," Senator Thomas Albert said during his time as the House Appropriations Chairman. "The disruption of sports and other extracurricular activities also takes a major toll. It's going to take years for some of these students to recover academically."

Rank	District	College Readiness
1	Frankenmuth School District	42.3%
2	Chesaning Union Schools	38.6%
3	Freeland Community School District	34.9%
4	Hemlock Public School District	34.8%
5	Saginaw ISD	33.3%
6	Swan Valley School District	29%
7	Birch Run Area Schools	27.2%
8	Saginaw Township Community Schools	22.2%
9	St. Charles Community Schools	21.7%
10	Merrill Community Schools	19.1%
11	School District of the City of Saginaw	16.3%