Hill Day

The 5 Anderson District Teacher Forums are meeting with our legislators on Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020

UPDATE:

Your voices were heard

One of the concerns that we presented to the legistlators on your behalf was the need for more interventionists, the representatives from the house heard us, we will wait and see if the Senate includes this as well. Click here for video

Five OUTRAGEOUSLY OUTDATED Things in Modern Education

by Jeremy S. Adams

For Immediate Release

October 30, 2019

Columbia, S.C. – Today, the National Assessment Governing Board and the National Center for Education Statistics released the results of the 2019 administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly called the "Nation's Report Card" and the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. While many states saw measurable declines since 2017, South Carolina scores remained steady in grades four and eight in reading and mathematics.

"The fundamental knowledge of reading and math are crucial for student success in college, careers, and citizenship,”said State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman. "While South Carolina maintained its performance as the nation showed a decline, these results confirm there is still much work we must do to serve the needs of all our state's students."

In the spring of 2019, a representative sample of South Carolina students participated in NAEP testing. Required by the federal law, NAEP is administered to samples of students in each state and provides a means for valid nationwide comparisons of academic achievement. These latest results are the second reporting since transitioning to a computer-based test format. Approximately 4,800 fourth-graders and 4,700 eighth-graders participated from South Carolina.

Scores on the NAEP reading and mathematics tests are reported on a 500-point scale and as percentages in achievement levels: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. NAEP is administered to samples of student subgroups and all results are population estimates. All comparisons are tested for statistical significance and noted accordingly in the tables below.

Math

• South Carolina’s fourth-graders had an overall average score of 237 in 2019, compared to 234 in 2017. South Carolina eighth-graders’ average score was 276 in 2019, compared to 275 in 2017. At the national level, grade four math was up by one point from 2017 to 240, and grade eight math was down by one point to 281.
• 77% of fourth-graders in South Carolina scored at or above NAEP Basic, compared to 75% in 2017. In grade eight, 64% scored at or above Basic, compared to 62% in 2017. At the national level, 80% of fourth-graders and 68% of eighth-graders scored at or above Basic.
• The percentage of South Carolina fourth-graders scoring at or above NAEP Proficient increased to 36%, up four points since 2017. In grade eight, the percentage scoring at or above Proficient was 29, compared to 26% in 2017. Nationally, 40% of fourth-graders and 33% of eighth-graders scored at or above Proficient in 2019.
• The percentage of South Carolina eighth-graders performing at the NAEP Advanced level was 8%, up two points since 2017. Only one other state had a gain in the Advanced level for grade eight.

Reading

• South Carolina’s fourth-graders had an overall average reading score of 216 in 2019, compared to 213 in 2017. South Carolina’s eighth-graders’ average score was 259, compared to 260 in 2017. The national average for fourth-grade was down two points from 221 in 2017 to 219 in 2019. Similarly, the national average for eighth-grade was down by three points, 265 to 262.
• In South Carolina, 61% of fourth-graders scored at or above Basic, compared to 59% in 2017. 69% of eighth-graders performed at or above Basic in 2019, compared to 71% in 2017. There were statistically significant declines at the national level; 65% of fourth-graders (down 2 points) and 72% of eighth-graders (down 3 points) scored at or above Basic in 2019.
• 32% of our state’s fourth-grade students performed at or above Proficient in 2019, compared to 29% in 2017. 29% percent of South Carolina eighth-graders scored at or above Proficient in 2019, compared to 30% in 2017. At the national level for fourth-grade, students performing at or above Proficient was down one point to 34%. There was also a three point decline in grade eight at the national level, with 32% performing at or above Proficient.

NAEP results for South Carolina, other states, and the nation can be found here.

Below is the Paper Reduction (for Teachers) Final Report based on a survey conducted between June 19 and July 12, 2019

Click on the picture above for Teacher Leadership News from CERRA