State Report Cards
The Education Accountability Act of 1998 provides the foundation for the South Carolina Accountability system. Via this legislation, district and school performance data are tracked and reported in a school or district "report card".
The information below will be updated to reflect changes in state report cards in the near future.
Beginning with the 2001 report cards, each school and district has received two state accountability system ratings, one for absolute performance level and one for improvement rate (to be known as “growth” in 2009 and beyond):
Absolute Rating: The level of a school's academic performance on achievement measures for the current school year;
Growth Rating: The level of growth in academic performance when comparing current performance to the previous year's performance (based on longitudinally matched student data and on differences between cohorts of students when longitudinal data are not available.) Growth Ratings also reflect reductions in achievement gaps between majority groups and historically underachieving groups of students as well as sustained high levels of school or district achievement.
The five rating terms are Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and School/District at Risk.
Excellent: School performance substantially exceeds the standards for progress toward the South Carolina performance goal.
Good: School performance exceeds the standards for progress toward the South Carolina performance goal.
Average: School performance meets the standards for progress toward the South Carolina performance goal.
Below Average: School is in jeopardy of not meeting the standards for progress toward the South Carolina performance goal.
School/District at Risk: School performance fails to meet the standards for progress toward the South Carolina performance goal.
In addition to the state accountability system ratings, each school and district receives an indicator of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) based on the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. AYP specifies annual targets for the testing and achievement of all students and of specific demographic subgroups. How Absolute and Improviement Ratings are Calculated
Details on the calculation of Absolute and Improvement ratings for Grades K-2, 3-8, and 9-12 are available via the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee's annual Accountability Manual.
Source:
Education Oversight Committee
2008-2009 ACCOUNTABILITY MANUAL: The 2008–2009 Annual School and District Report Card System for South Carolina Public Schools and School Districts