Chester County, SC (09/12/23): Students in Chester County School District are showing improvements in state testing, surpassing achievements made prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 5th, the South Carolina Department of Education released the 2022-2023 school year results for the South Carolina College-and Career-Ready Assessments (SC READY) examinations in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, and the South Carolina Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (SC PASS) in science given in the elementary and middle school grade levels. Students in grades 3-8 take SC READY, and students in grades 4 and 6 take SC PASS.
Effects from the global pandemic in 2020 resulted in declines in academic performance, however, the latest data shows that average overall results for state testing are higher than pre-COVID achievement during the 2018-2019 school year.
“The achievement gains from 2022 to 2023, and increases compared to previous school years, are a testament to the diligence and dedication demonstrated by our teachers and school leaders to ensure our students are moving closer and closer to meeting the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate,” CCSD Superintendent Dr. Antwon Sutton said. “The District recognizes that there is still work to be done, but the data is trending in the right direction. The collective efforts of our staff, students, and families will help the district to continue to improve.”
In ELA, each grade level made gains in the percentage of students scoring meets or exceeds on SC READY. The greatest improvement was in 8th grade with a 12.8% increase from 33.6% in Spring 2022 to 46.4% in Spring 2023. The overall increase for ELA was 35.7% in Spring 2022 to 44.7% in Spring 2023.
Math achievement increased slightly overall, as well, moving from 28.36% scoring meets or exceeds in Spring 2022 to 30.05% in Spring 2023. The greatest improvement was in 3rd grade which improved from 39.5% scoring meets or exceeds in Spring 2022 to 46.2% in Spring 2023. Similar to the overall results for the state of South Carolina, math achievement was lower than ELA achievement.
Science achievement showed a slight improvement of .9% when comparing Spring 2019 results to Spring 2023. Fourth-grade students’ performance increased by 2.7% from Spring 2022 to Spring 2023; however, 6th-grade performance decreased by 4.3%.
As South Carolina Superintendent Ellen Weaver recently shared with superintendents across the state, “This data is a tool, not a weapon. Just like a GPS app, it gives us a clear picture of where we are on the map so that we know how to plot our course to get to where we need to go.”
Chester County School District officials are determined to continue this upward trend as the new school year continues. Complete testing data is available for public review online at: https://ed.sc.gov/data/test-sc....