More Than 80% of District 5 Students Tested Pass Exit Exams on First Try

Eighty-nine percent of the students in Lexington-Richland 5 who took both the English language arts (ELA) and mathematics High School Assessment Program (HSAP) exams passed them on the first try, according to 2010-11 school year data released on Friday from the State Department of Education.

On the school level, most of the students tested also passed both exams on the first try.

At Irmo High School, 81.7 percent of the 464 test-takers passed both exams.

Dutch Fork High School had 92.2 percent of its 500 student testers to pass both exams.

Chapin High School had 94.7 percent of the 339 students taking both exams to pass each test.

Other district highlights:

• 94.5 percent of the students taking the ELA exam pass compared to 93.4 percent of the students during the 2009-10 school year

• 89.8 percent of the students who took the math exam during the 2010-11 school year passed compared to 91.3 percent the year before, a decrease of 1.5 percent

The HSAP, which is based on the state’s curriculum standards for ELA and math, is administered during a student’s second year of high school.

Public school students must pass both the HSAP exams in order to meet the state’s exit exam requirement for a high school diploma.  A level 2 score of higher will qualify as a passing score for the state.

The district's End of Course results, which count for 20 percent of a student’s final course grade, also was released.

Here’s the EOC grade distribution for Lexington-Richland 5:

• Algebra: 39.3 percent A, 22.5 percent B, 17.2 percent C, 12.3 percent D, 8.8 percent F

• Biology: 34.4 percent A, 16.2 percent B, 17.9 percent C, 13.2 percent D, 18.3 percent F

• English: 21.4 percent A, 22.3 percent B, 25.6 percent C, 14.7 percent D, 16 percent F

• Physical Science: 16.4 percent, 14.9 percent, 19.6 percent, 17.3 percent, 31.8 percent F

• U.S. History: 4.8 percent A, 13.2 percent B, 23 percent C, 27 percent D, 31.9 percent F

Across the state

Seventy-nine percent or nearly 4 out of 5 of South Carolina’s students who took both the ELA and mathematics HSAP exams passed on their first attempt, according to the data. 

For ELA HSAP tests, 88.6 percent of the students tested (51,357) during the 2010-11 school year met the HSAP exam requirement of scoring a Level 2 or higher on the exam. In mathematics, 81.2 percent of the 51,356 students who took the test met the exit requirement.

The data also showed that the percentage of students who passed End of Course (EOC) exams in Algebra, Physical Science and U.S. History, increased from the 2009-10 school year. English was the only subject area to show a decrease.

 Here is a breakdown of the EOC exam results:

• 82.1 percent of the 56,492 students tested passed the Algebra exam, an improvement of 1.9 percent

• 68 percent of the 51,514 students tested passed the Biology exam

• 72.5 percent of the 54,830 students tested passed the English exam, a decrease of 1.2 percent

• 59.8 percent of the 53,506 students tested passed the Physical Science exam, an improvement of .7 percent

• 49.7 percent of the 47,724 students tested passed the U.S. History exam, an improvement of 3.4 percent

End of Course grade distribution:

• Algebra: 20.4 percent A, 18.3 percent B, 22.3 percent C, 21.2 percent D, 17.9 percent F

• Biology: 20.6 percent A, 13.9 percent B, 16.3 percent C, 17.3 percent D, 32 percent F

• English: 12.9 percent A, 17.3 percent B, 24 percent C, 18.2 percent D, 27.5 percent F

• Physical Science: 11.9 percent A, 11.3 percent B, 18 percent C, 18.7 percent D, 40.2 percent F

• U.S. History: 2.9 percent A, 8.2 percent B, 16.9 percent C, 21.6 percent D, 50.3 percent F

The 2010-11 school year is the first year for the Biology I exam.

Students receive a grade of either A, B, C, D or F. In South Carolina, the uniform grading scale is as follows: an A is 93-100; a B is 85-92; a C is 77-84; a D is 70-76; and a 69 or below is an F. A passing score is above 69.

HSAP and EOC

If a student doesn’t pass an HSAP exam on his or her first attempt, additional opportunities are given to retake any exam.

Students must score a Level 3 or higher to meet proficiency standards for federal accountability, according to the education department.

The Education Accountability Act of 1998 requires students to take the End of Course exams in what the State Education Department calls gateway or benchmark courses, which includes English and Algebra.

All public school students in middle school, high school, alternative school, virtual school, adult education, and home schools who are enrolled in these courses must take the exam.