The Pickens County School District saw its federal accountability grade fall more than 5 points in 2013.
The district scored 83.7 on the 100-point scale, for a B grade, in 2013. In 2012, the Pickens County School District scored 88.9, also a B.
The grade, posted for each school and district statewide and released by the S.C. Department of Education on Thursday morning, is part of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
State Education Superintendent Mick Zais was granted a waiver to change from the federal Annual Yearly Progress scorecard (Met/Not Met) to a new scoring system that he believed provided more depth to districts and parents.
According to SCDE spokesman Jay Ragley, every district, school (charter, magnet or traditional) and subgroup (race, gender, etc.) was given the same targets for 2013 in reading/language arts and math. And those goals represented an improvement, or increase, over 2012.
Here are the individual 2013 results for Pickens County schools:
AMBLER ELEMENTARY A 100.0
WEST END ELEMENTARY A 100.0
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HOLLY SPRINGS ELEMENTARY A 99.0
SIX MILE ELEMENTARY A 99.0
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CROSSWELL ELEMENTARY A 97.7
A R LEWIS ELEMENTARY A 95.2
CHASTAIN ROAD ELEMENTARY A 95.1
CLEMSON ELEMENTARY A 93.9
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY A 93.3
EAST END ELEMENTARY A 92.1
LIBERTY HIGH A 91.3
DACUSVILLE ELEMENTARY A 90.2
D W DANIEL HIGH B 89.0
PICKENS ELEMENTARY B 88.0
HAGOOD ELEMENTARY B 86.8
DACUSVILLE MIDDLE B 86.7
LIBERTY ELEMENTARY B 86.2
LIBERTY MIDDLE B 86.2
RICHARD H GETTYS MIDDLE B 85.2
PICKENS MIDDLE B 84.4
R C EDWARDS MIDDLE B 83.5
PICKENS SENIOR HIGH B 83.1
FOREST ACRES ELEMENTARY C 75.1
EASLEY HIGH D 61.7
MCKISSICK ELEMENTARY F 55.0
Also on Thursday, the state released figures on high school exit exams.
More than 86 percent of the 1,150 Pickens County students who took the exit exam for the first time passed.
Here are Pickens County schools, the number who took the test for the first time and the percent who passed:
Easley High 401 85.8
Liberty High 166 83.7
Pickens High 322 82.9
District scores were above the state score by 4.1 percent, according to a district release.
All four
schools also improved their percentage of students passing both tests on the first attempt.
“I’m extremely proud of the work that all four of our high schools have done to ensure that our students meet their
graduation requirements,” said Sharon Huff, assistant superintendent of instructional services. “Over the past five
years, our district has made steady increases in the percentage of students passing both the English and mathematics
portions of the test. To put this year’s score in perspective, in 2009, 79.7 percent of our students passed both tests on
the first attempt. We have come a long way. Our goal is to see this positive trend continue.”
“I am very pleased with our student’s performance on HSAP,” said Dr. Kelly Pew, superintendent. “While we continue to see an increase in HSAP scores, we will review areas that can be improved and work to support our teachers and students to continue their growth. Our HSAP scores demonstrate the hard work of teachers, administrators and students in the School District of Pickens County.”
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