Greenville County Schools Exceed State Average in Exit Exams

Students in Greenville County schools averaged better scores in both the High School Assessment Program (HSAP) and End of Course (EOC) exams last year, according to data released by the South Carolina Department of Education.

Greenville County students outperformed students from across the state in 2011 in all HSAP areas, with 82.9 percent passing both english and math portions, compared to the state's 79 percent clip. Just over 91 percent of Greenville County students passed the English Language Arts portion of the test, compared to 88.6 percent of South Carolina, while Greenville County's 83 percent passage rate in mathematics exceeded the state's 81.2 percent rate.

Mauldin High School's 89.8 percent passage rate on both portions of the HSAP represent a .5 percent improvement over last year's numbers, while Eastside High School improved its rate roughly two whole percentage points, up to 87 percent. Wade Hampton High School saw a dip in overall passage of the HSAP, from 90.1 percent a year ago, to 89.4 percent.

“Overall, we are very pleased with the results as our students continue to progress on End of Course exams and the High School Exit Exam,” said Oby Lyles, Director of Communications.

Statewide, roughly four out of five South Carolina students who took both the ELA and math exams passed on the first attempt.

Data also showed that a higher percentage of South Carolina students who took the End of Course (EOC) exams passed:

·      82.1 percent of the 56,492 students tested passed the Algebra exam, an improvement of 1.9 percent (84 percent of Greenville County students passed).

·      68 percent of the 51,514 students tested passed the Biology exam (75 percent of Greenville County Students passed)

·      72.5 percent of the 54,830 students tested passed the English exam, a decrease of 1.2 percent (77 percent of Greenville County students passed)

·      59.8 percent of the 53,506 students tested passed the Physical Science exam, an improvement of .7 percent (64 percent of Greenville County students passed)

·      49.7 percent of the 47,724 students tested passed the U.S. History exam, an improvement of 3.4 percent. (59 percent of Greenville County students passed)

Schools in Patch communities generally performed well in the exams. Wade Hampton High School's physical science passage rate was the highest in county, while Mauldin High School's biology passage rate was highest in the county.

EOC Notes:

Mauldin High School Passage Rates
Algebra I - 85 percent
English I - 75.7 percent
Physical Science - 54.5 percent
Biology I - 93.3 percent
U.S. History - 74.4 percent

Wade Hampton High School Passage Rates
Algebra I - 87.3 percent
English I - 85.8 percent
Physical Science - 83.7 percent
Biology I - 87.5 percent
U.S History - 69.6 percent

Eastside High School Passage Rates
Algebra I - 71.4 percent
English I - 79 percent
Physical Science - 58.4 percent
Biology I - 81.8 percent
U.S. History - 69.9 percent