Michigan residents can learn how their local schools measure up in the latest edition of the Context and Performance Report Card. The 2025 CAP report ranks the state’s public elementary and middle schools by using their standardized test performance over three years, from 2022 to 2024. It highlights the top 100 schools as well as the bottom 100. The report tells the world which schools have improved and which have declined the most since pandemic-era lockdowns.
Unlike traditional school rankings, the Mackinac Center’s report card considers the socioeconomic makeup of the student population, not just standardized test scores, when calculating a school’s grade. By adjusting for student poverty, the report card provides a more accurate assessment of school performance. Some schools scored better when accounting for poverty than their test scores alone would suggest.
The 2025 report card includes both conventional public and charter schools. Consistent with previous report cards, Dearborn Public Schools demonstrated strong performance and placed more schools in the top 100 than any other district. Dearborn STEM Middle School earned the No. 1 slot.
Charter schools are well represented in the top rankings, too. They account for 22% of the top 100 despite representing only 12% of the schools in the report card. Pembroke Academy, a Detroit charter school, placed second on the list. Hamtramck Academy landed in the top 10 for the third consecutive time, and Frontier International School, a neighboring charter school, was fourth.
The report card also identifies the top-ranking schools in each of four geographic settings: rural, city, suburban and town. The rural category has the greatest number of schools in the top 100. Conversely, only five of the top 100 schools are in towns.
Michigan residents also can learn how their local schools have fared since the COVID lockdowns. The report reveals the schools with the largest post-COVID gains and declines by comparing their 2025 and 2019 scores. Gros Cap School in St. Ignace showed the most growth: It improved from an F in 2019 to an A in 2025. New Paradigm College Prep, a charter school in Detroit, declined the most. Its score dropped by more than 25 points.
The Mackinac Center is committed to providing transparency for school performance. The 2025 CAP Report Card is an important tool for anyone interested in improving student achievement.
A complete list of school rankings is available at mackinac.org/CAP2025.
Flint elementary and middle schools ranked in the bottom 100 public schools
Schools operated by the Detroit Public Schools Community District
Schools in Benton Harbor ranked in the bottom 100 public schools
