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SDPC earns ‘Good’ Absolute Rating

COUNTY — The School District of Pickens County received a “Good” absolute rating and a “Below Average” growth rating on the 2013 South Carolina School District Report Card.

The absolute rating judges the district against the state’s expectations, and the growth rating compares the district to its own performance in the previous year. The five categories of ratings are “Excellent,” “Good,” “Average,” “Below Average” and “At-risk,” with “Average” being the state’s expectation for performance.

“I’m glad that our teachers and students have once again surpassed the state’s requirements for academic performance, but our growth is an area of concern,” said Dr. Kelly Pew, superintendent. “Our goal is always to improve. Our students are clearly competitive in South Carolina, but we need to ensure that our achievement improves each year. We are reviewing our data with our schools so that we can adjust instructional strategies and curriculum as necessary.”

The district had earned “Good” on both the absolute and growth ratings in 2012.

The growth rating of several schools changed between 2012 and 2013, while the absolute rating changed for only two schools; Liberty Middle School improved from “Average” to “Good,” and Liberty Elementary changed from “Excellent” to “Good”

“We have already met with principals this year to analyze the student performance data measured on the SC Report Card, and we will continue to review other data throughout the year to help us make adjustments in our curriculum and instructional practices,” said Sharon Huff, assistant superintendent of Instructional Services. “Student progress and overall growth are very important because sustained improvement is the objective. Our district and school leadership teams look carefully at our students’ scores to make sure that each individual student shows a minimum of one year’s growth.”

On the absolute ratings of the district’s 25 schools, 11 earned “Excellent,” 11 earned “Good,” and three earned “Average.” On the growth ratings, five earned “Excellent,” six earned “Good,” nine were “Average,” three were “Below Average,” and two were “At-Risk.”

A table of each school’s rating is provided below.

Microsoft Word - 2013 State Report Card Release