COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) and the SC Education Oversight Committee (EOC) released the 2022 School Report Cards. The data report is the first since the beginning of the pandemic in 2019 and reflects student performance issues from the 2021-22 school year.
According to the data, 20.6 percent of schools statewide received an overall rating of Excellent, consistent with the same grade in 2019.
Breaking down the numbers when comparing the results from pre-pandemic 2019 to post-pandemic 2022:
- overall number of school report calls: 1,214 (2019) to 1,238 (2022), an increase of 24 schools analyzed
- elementary schools receiving an overall rating of Excellent increased 3.1 percent from 18.7% (2019) to 21.8% (2022)
- middle schools receiving an overall rating of Excellent increased 0.7 percent from 20.7% (2019) to 21.7% (2022)
- high schools receiving an overall rating of Excellent decreased 9.3 percent from 26.0% (2019) to 16.7% (2022)
- elementary schools receiving an overall rating of Average increased 1.3 percent from 34.0% (2019) to 35.5% (2022)
- middle schools receiving an overall rating of Average increased 2.0 percent from 37.5% (2019) to 39.5% (2022)
- high schools receiving an overall rating of Average increased 3.9 percent from 27.8% (2019) to 31.7% (2022)
- elementary schools receiving an overall rating of Unsatisfactory increased 0.4 percent from 5.9% (2019) to 6.3% (2022)
- middle schools receiving an overall rating of Unsatisfactory increased 1.1 percent from 2.2% (2019) to 3.3% (2022)
- high schools receiving an overall rating of Unsatisfactory increased 3.5 percent from 4.4% (2019) to 7.9% (2022)
State Superintendent Molly Spearman said this of the results, “Though many of the results we see are perhaps expected following the pandemic, we are no less concerned about drops in assessment results and the widening gaps for many of our students. We are encouraged by the growth we see, as we seek to continue the work of ensuring our educational system in South Carolina is preparing all students to be ready for college, careers, and citizenship.”
The school report cards are meant to increase accessibility and accountability in the state's public schools by providing information to families and the general public factoring in student academic achievement, preparation for success and progress, high school graduation rates and college and career readiness, English Learners' Progress Toward Proficiency, and -- for the first time -- school safety.
The school safety category relates to "perceptions of safety, working conditions and the social-physical environment" of South Carolina public schools.
The Palmetto State Teachers Association issued a statement regarding the School Report Cards, saying in part, "While comparing these results to the 2019 ratings can show reasons for both celebration and concern, any attempts to draw direct comparisons between those two sets of report cards should be tempered in light of the profound changes of the past three years. Since 2019, South Carolina students, educators and families have navigated disrupted instruction due to a global pandemic, a growing youth mental health crisis, and the impact of ongoing threats against schools across the state. For these reasons, Palmetto State Teachers Association believes this set of School Report Cards must be viewed in the appropriate context."
The statement concludes, "While the current system is based almost entirely on measures of outputs in schools, a reimagined system could better account for and respond to the continued inequities in educational inputs and resources across our state. And while the current system relies overwhelmingly on standardized measures of student performance, a better system would rely heavily on the expertise and evaluations made by the professional educators that are meeting the unique needs of individual learners every day."
You can access the 2022 School Report Card data and compare schools and districts -- up to three at a time -- at screportcards.com.
For example, according to the data available:
- Richland School District 1 encompasses 48 schools; employs 1,864 teachers; and has a student enrollment of 22,151
- Richland 2 encompasses 32 schools; employs 1,906 teachers; and has a student enrollment of 29,303
- Lexington-Richland 5 encompasses 23 schools; employs 1,281 teachers; and has a student enrollment of 17,245
A comparison of the three school districts yielded these results:
- percentage of students meeting or exceeding goals in SC Ready English Language Arts: Richland 1: 36.2%; Richland 2: 49.4%; LexRich 5: 55.0%
- percentage of students meeting or exceeding goals in SC Ready Mathematics: Richland 1: 27.1%; Richland 2: 40.5%: LexRich 5: 45.1%
- graduation rates: Richland 1: 86.0%; Richland 2: 85.1%; LexRich 5: 89.0%
- overall perception of school climate (rating on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the safest): Richland 1: 5.69/10; Richland 2: 5.58/10; LexRich 5: 6.71/10