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Horry County Schools Experiences Gains in State Report Cards; 60% of District Schools Rated Excellent and Good

In the first release of state report cards that provide ratings following COVID-19, Horry County Schools’ overall ratings on state reports cards show that 32 out of 53 district schools, or 60%, were rated Excellent or Good.

South Carolina schools receive descriptive overall ratings of Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and Unsatisfactory, based on a 100-point scale. Schools also receive ratings on seven out of ten key report card indicators, which contain information about schools and districts regarding how well students performed on state and national assessments, student growth, graduation rates, English language proficiency, and more. While school districts and primary schools receive report cards, they are not rated. The 2021-2022 report cards also contain school, local, state, and federal per-pupil expenditure data as part of federal accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Although report cards were released to the public in 2020 and 2021, there were no ratings due to the cancellation of federally required accountability tests or waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  School and district performance on state assessments can be found on the report cards. A synopsis of district performance can be found below.

Graduation Rate and College & Career Readiness 

  • The on-time graduation rate for HCS increased to 83.1% in 2022, compared to 82.7% in 2021. By comparison, the state’s on-time graduation rate rose by half of a percentage point, to a total of 83.8% in 2022, compared to 83.3% the previous year.
  • The percentage of students in the HCS 2022 graduating cohort who are college or career ready increased by almost five percentage points, up to 72.8% in 2022, compared to 68.0% in 2021. Statewide, 65.8% of students in the 2022 graduating cohort were determined to be college or career ready, also up around five percentage points from 61.1% the previous year.

State Assessment Results

SC READY

  • The percentage of district students scoring “met” or “exceeding” grade-level expectations on the SC READY English Language Arts assessment rose to 52.6%, up 3.7 percentage points from 48.9% in 2021. Statewide performance increased by 4 percentage points, up to 46.6% in 2022, compared to 42.6% in 2021.
  • The number of district students scoring “met” or “exceeding” grade-level expectations on the SC READY Math assessment is 46.9%, up by 8 percentage points from the state’s 38.9% of students performing at the same levels and 1.7 percentage points higher than the previous year.

SC PASS

  • The percentage of district students scoring “met” or “exceeding” grade-level expectations on the SC PASS Science assessment was 53.7%, compared to 51.2% in 2021, and it was nearly eight percentage points higher than the state’s 46%.

End of Course Examination Program (EOCEP)

EOCEP scores are representative of a four-year graduation cohort and are not solely the results of exams administered during a single year.

  • On the English II exam, 68.7% of district students scored a “C” or higher, nearly 11 percentage points higher than the state’s 57.9% of students performing at the same level.
  • On the Algebra exam, 58.6% of district students scored a “C” or higher, more than 14 percentage points higher than the state’s 44.2%. Results fell slightly in 2022, down from 61.0% for the district and down from 46.8% statewide in 2021.
  • On the Biology exam, 58.8% of district students scored a “C” or higher in 2022, nearly 12 percentage points higher than the state’s 46.9%. Both district and state performance slipped from 62.7% and 50.2%, respectively, in 2021.
  • The percentage of district students scoring a “C” or higher on the U.S. History and the Constitution exam is more than 13 points higher than the state at 51.2%, compared to the state’s 37.8%. The percentage of district students earning a “C” or higher was 46% in 2021, in comparison to 37.7% statewide. 

Ready to Work (R2W) Assessment

  • The number of district students receiving a National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) in 2022 is 79%, higher than the state’s 78%. District results slipped from 84.9% of students earning an NCRC in 2021, while the state results dropped from 81.9%.
  • More district students earned NCRC Platinum and Gold distinctions, up nearly 12 percentage points to 25.4% in 2022, compared to 13.8% in 2021. Statewide, 23.7% of students earned Platinum or Gold distinction in 2022, up from 12% in 2021.
  • More district students earned Silver NCRC distinction in 2022 than their peers statewide, with 26.6% compared to the state’s 25.8%.  HCS students increased the number of students earning a Platinum distinction by 10 percentage points when compared to 2021 scores.

State report cards present an opportunity for communities to learn what they can do to help students and schools, and they help foster conversations to support continuous improvement. District and school report cards can be accessed by visiting SCReportCards.com.