Greenville County high schools outperform state in end of course exams, SC career ready tests
On the End of Course Exam Program (EOCEP), Greenville County Schools (GCS) juniors and seniors outperformed the rest of the state's counties in all subject areas.
Greenville schools showed notable gains from spring 2022 to spring 2023, making progress in returning to or exceeding the levels they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, a press release from GCS stated.
Of note, 75.3% of GCS students who took WIN's (World Interactive Network) South Carolina Career Ready Test in spring 2023 also outperformed the state at 71.6%, earning a credential. In addition, 57.2% of GCS students taking the assessment also received a career-ready designation at Level 3, 4 or 5, outperforming the state at 52.2%.
WIN's Career Ready Test is a career readiness assessment designed to measure workforce skills, containing four parts: Math Assessment, Data Assessment, Reading Assessment and Soft Skill Assessment.
“We are proud of the students who received this credential and showed they are ready to enter our workforce,” GCS Superintendent Dr. Burke Royster said. “This is one of the ways our students demonstrate they are ready for their next steps in life, and it is more critical than ever that students graduate with a diploma plus industry certifications, college credit or both.”
2024 Best college rankings: Clemson, Furman, Wofford earn top marks among SC schools.
SC Career Readiness Credentials among GCS students
∎ Level 2: 18.0% (score of level 2 or higher on all exams)
∎ Level 3: 18.0% (score of level 3 or higher on all exams)
∎ Level 4: 37.5% (score of level 4 or higher on all exams)
∎ Level 5: 1.7% (score of level 5 or higher on all exams)
Here's what to know: Greenville County elementary, middle school test scores outperform SC.
Academic growth, performance at GCS: Here are the Greenville County Schools with the most significant academic growth, performance
Greenville County high schools test data
Algebra 1
∎ 66% of high schools showed increases from 2021-22 to 2022-23 school year.
∎ 93% of high schools exceeded their pre-pandemic (2018-19) test scores.
English 2
∎ 66% of high schools outperformed the state passage rate.
∎ There is no pre-pandemic (2018-19) comparative data for English 2 because the English 1 test was given in 2019 before switching to English 2.
Biology
∎ 47% of high schools showed increases from 2021-22 to 2022-23 school year.
∎ While GCS exceeded the state average in Biology and there were notable gains from 2021-22 to 2022-23, GCS remains focused on helping the high schools exceed their pre-pandemic (2018-19) Biology test scores.
U.S. History
∎ 93% of high schools maintained or increased from 2021-22 to 2022-23 school year.
∎ Due to the state-wide change in standards taught and tested for U.S. History, there is no pre-pandemic comparative data (2018-19).
End of Course exam program percent passing
Algebra I: SC: 68.5%; GCS: 75%
English II: SC: 84.1%; GCS: 86.1%
Biology I: SC: 59.1%; 62.5%
US History: SC: 60.9%; GCS: 68.7%
*The South Carolina Department of Education reports Algebra I Passage Rates for middle and high school students combined.
Nina Tran covers trending topics. Reach her via email at ntran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville students outperform SC in state tests. Here's what to know.
