Students continue to make strides in math and reading, state education officials said today in releasing Michigan Educational Assessment Program test results.

The standardized test’s math exam was passed by 95 percent of third-graders, 92 percent of fourth-graders, 79 percent of fifth-graders and 82 percent of sixth-graders.

In reading, passing rates ranged from 82 percent of seventh-graders to 90 percent of third-graders.

"These are the results we have been expecting when we established statewide curriculum standards and base our tests on those standards," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said. "Teachers have more clarity on the basic standards that students should know and understand, and when they are taught and learned, students can achieve."

The statewide curriculum standards were established five years ago, and since then students have made considerable improvement, the state said.