West Ashley Schools Among Those Showing Improvement on State Report Cards

Overall, education in South Carolina showed gains on the 2011 State Report Cards released this morning.

The number of individual schools and school districts in the state that earned an "Excellent" Absolute rating increased from 2010 to 2011 with 11 of the 86 districts earning the distinction this year as opposed to the six that earned the top rating last year, according to S.C. Department of Education data.

The Charleston County School District increased its Absolute Rating to "Good" this year from "Average" last year. Ten district schools also increased their Absolute ratings for 2011.

Charleston County School District Superintendent Nancy McGinley will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. Thursday to discuss the results at 75 Calhoun St. in the Charleston County School Board meeting room.

, and kept their "Excellent" Absolute rating for the third year in a row. And earned an "Excellent" Absolute rating for a second year. The schools were among 166 elementary schools statewide to earn "Excellent" Absolute ratings.

and maintained a "Good" Absolute rating for a second year. They joined 127 other elementary schools statewide to earn "Good" Absolute ratings.

improved to a "Good" Absolute rating from posting "Average" Absolute ratings the previous two years. It was one of 51 middle schools statewide to earn a "Good" Absolute rating.

and maintained "Average" Absolute ratings for the third year running. Oakland is one of 259 South Carolina elementary schools to earn an "Average" Absolute rating, and St. Andrews Middle is one of 125 state middle schools with an "Average" Absolute rating.

and also improved their Absolute ratings to "Average" from "Below Average" last year. West Ashley Middle joins St. Andrews Middle in that group of 125 S.C. middle schools with "Average" Absolute ratings. West Ashley High is one of 77 high schools to earn an "Average" Absolute rating.

Schools are also rated on growth.

In that category West Ashley High saw its Growth rating shoot up from "At-Risk" last year to "Excellent" this year. C.E. Williams Middle School for Creative and Scientific Arts also saw an improved Growth rating to "Excellent" from "Average."

St. Andrews School of Math and Science, Orange Grove Elementary Charter, Drayton Hall Elementary School and Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary School maintained an "Excellent" Growth rating for a second year.

St. Andrews Middle School and Stono Park Elementary School saw improved Growth ratings to "Good" from "Average" last year.

Oakland Elementary maintained a "Good" Growth rating for a second year.

West Ashley Middle School maintained an "Average" Growth rating for the third year in a row.

However Springfield Elementary School's Growth rating declined to "Average" from "Good" last year.

The State Report Cards also provide data on graduation rates in South Carolina high schools. Statewide graduation rates for all measured categories (male students, female students, white students, African American students, Hispanic students and students receiving subsidized meals) improved. The overall rate came in at 73.6 percent, up from 72.1 percent last year. The graduation rate in 2003 (78 percent) remains the high water mark for South Carolina's high school graduation rate over the past decade.

At West Ashley High the graduation rate ticked up 6.91 percent to 64.75 percent from 57.84 percent the previous year. However the improved rate is still well below the state average.

State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais said the high school graduation was well below where the state’s rate should be.

“What this current rate means is that slightly more than 1 out of every 4 students will not graduate on time in South Carolina,” Zais said to media across the state on Wednesday. “We shouldn’t be satisfied with this graduation rate. I certainly am not and no one else should be.”

Zais suggested three ares to focus on to improve the graduation rate.

The first being “an intense focus on reading in elementary school.”

“We need to make sure every student is reading on grade level by the time they enter fourth grade,” Zais said.

The second area would be for high schools to tailor its curriculum so that “each student gets a personalized and customized education that matches the student’s ability, aspirations and needs not a one-size-fits-all curriculum.”

Zais also said providing more options for parents would help increase the on-time graduation rate in the state.

“We need to provide more options to parents so that they can pick, either kindergarten or through high school, the educational environment that best fit the need of their student and that will put them on the path to graduation,” Zais said. “That’s why I’ve been pushing for a full menu of options for traditional schools, our public charter schools, our public magnet schools and many other kinds.”

Zais said allowing students to take, for example, a business writing course instead of British literature to fulfill credit requirements and not just as an elective would help schools tailor curriculum to individual students.