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K-12 Education in South Carolina


krazeeboi

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It is true that SC's public schools as a whole are nowhere near the academic level they should be. That being said, there are a few public schools that stand out, and a ton of private schools where you'll find a very high level of teaching. Greenville County also has seven charter schools, with more on the way. And don't forget about the large home school groups in the state, because many of the brightest high schoolers are produced through this method of learning. Quite frankly, I am glad there are so many alternatives to public education in SC, since it is rather poor overall.

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Not to try and put SC down but from the list SC schools seem to have some of the least amount of students passing ap/ib test.

From what I can see on the list, we don't have any less students passing AP/IB tests than any other state. Here are our schools that made the top 1,000 and their AP/IB passing percentages:

10) Academic Magnet--North Charleston--100%

36) Southside--Greenville--15.8% (one of the most improved schools from last year)

410) Dutch Fork--Irmo--31.2%

432) Governor's School for Arts & Humanities--Greenville--54% (I thought this one would rank higher)

626) Woodruff--Woodruff--16.8%

689) Daniel--Central--82%

868) Hilton Head--Hilton Head--29.1%

928) Woodmont--Piedmont--5.6% (Whoa)

Now, for some comparable schools from NC and GA for comparison purposes:

16) Myers Park--Charlotte--41.3%

53) Raleigh Charter--Raleigh--84.1%

445) Roswell--Roswell--42.8%

457) Centennial--Roswell--28.6%

470) Northwest Guilford--Greensboro--38.3%

494) Southern Guilford--Greensboro--14.1%

506) North Atlanta--Atlanta--6.5% (Wow)

601) Ragsdale--Jamestown (NC)--26.8%

616) Norcross--Norcross--62%

755) Dudley--Greensboro--4.0% (abysmal)

815) Eastern Guilford--Gibsonville--9.1%

829) Dunwoody--Dunwoody--21.1%

I'm not seeing a big discrepancy at all. As a matter of fact, we have one of the handful of schools that posted a 100% score in passing AP/IB placement tests. Perhaps it appears as though we place amongst the last in this category because all of our schools did not report their scores in this category.

It is also a known fact that SC has some of the highest proficiency standards in the nation, meaning we don't dumb down our standards simply to inflate our figures as some states have done. The progress out educational system has made within the last decade can be found here.

Also let it also be known that the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville was named one of "The Public Elites," one of 21 schools so named (this was a separate listing). I had the opportunity to attend this school while in high school, but wasn't that interested; the boarding school thing didn't really excite me that much. But if I could do it all over again, I certainly would.

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Yeah, people are dying to get into the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville as well. Woodmont is a shocker. Southside High has made tremendous improvements over the years, and is the first high school in the state to have an international baccalaureate program, setting it well above most others in that area (23 different languages are spoken at Southside High). I would have expected better from a few other local high schools, but it is an overall sign of our poor system of learning statewide.

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9 Greenville county high schools made the list... and I thought it was interesting that Riverside, the district's pride and joy, did poorly in comparison to others that made the list. It was beat by 6 other county schools:

36: Southside

134: Mauldin

432: Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities

553: Wade Hampton

637: JL Mann

655: Hillcrest

694: Riverside

928: Woodmont

1057: Eastside

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It is also a known fact that SC has some of the highest proficiency standards in the nation, meaning we don't dumb down our standards simply to inflate our figures as some states have done. The progress out educational system has made within the last decade can be found here.

I think that this fact is the most important at this point. SC is make real progress, and though our reputation is not what it should be, that will change with time. We will eventually have one of the best educational systems in the nation because of our efforts. That said, how may other states had ZERO listings? At least we are on the thing, and in the top 10 no less, even if its a charter school in Greenville.

How many/did any rural SC schools made the list that are NOT in any statistical metro areas (Chas, G'ville/S'burg, Cola)?

Good question. I would like to know as well, but I don't really have the time to read through a list of 1000 schools. Its frustrating that its not searchable or organizable.

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9 Greenville county high schools made the list... and I thought it was interesting that Riverside, the district's pride and joy, did poorly in comparison to others that made the list. It was beat by 6 other county schools:

36: Southside

134: Mauldin

432: Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities

553: Wade Hampton

637: JL Mann

655: Hillcrest

694: Riverside

928: Woodmont

1057: Eastside

Riverside is indeed considered one of Greenville County School System's "pride and joys," but they certainly do shine in national high school baseball rankings. And they have just produced the record holder for longest distance field goal in state history at over 60 yards.

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From what I can see on the list, we don't have any less students passing AP/IB tests than any other state. Here are our schools that made the top 1,000 and their AP/IB passing percentages:

10) Academic Magnet--North Charleston--100%

36) Southside--Greenville--15.8% (one of the most improved schools from last year)

410) Dutch Fork--Irmo--31.2%

432) Governor's School for Arts & Humanities--Greenville--54% (I thought this one would rank higher)

626) Woodruff--Woodruff--16.8%

689) Daniel--Central--82%

868) Hilton Head--Hilton Head--29.1%

928) Woodmont--Piedmont--5.6% (Whoa)

Now, for some comparable schools from NC and GA for comparison purposes:

I thought a few schools were missing from the list, the list below shows that I wasn't crazy.

9 Greenville county high schools made the list... and I thought it was interesting that Riverside, the district's pride and joy, did poorly in comparison to others that made the list. It was beat by 6 other county schools:

36: Southside

134: Mauldin

432: Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities

553: Wade Hampton

637: JL Mann

655: Hillcrest

694: Riverside

928: Woodmont

1057: Eastside

With regards to Riverside, this just means fewer students are taking AP classes, big deal. Look at SAT scores and then see how Riverside stands out.

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  • 1 month later...

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute has given our state's educational system a grade of "A" when it comes to our approach to teaching world history. As far as our neighbors are concerned, Georgia and Virginia also received a grade of "A," while Florida and North Carolina received "F"s. What I find especially ironic is that Florida also received an "F" in the individual category of state's standards in coverage of Latin America.

Some notable excerpts from the actual report (PDF file):

Unlike many states,...South Carolina
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^In regards to Latin American studies, perhaps the F grade reflects the majority of Florida because i doubt the Miami-West Palm Beach metro area would flunk that badly.

Teaching history in NC, i dont know if i buy that F. The county schools i attended had good history/geography teachers. Then again, theres the other 99 counties that i cant speak of :P

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These articles are all very good news for us, but unfortunately most people will never see them. The old reputation is still out there in full force, and all you ever hear about is how terrible our system is. Even the news stations love to harp about how far behind we are, and how we don't measure up. I hear people who have lived here for many years, newcomers, and even school teachers who talk about how awful our school system is. Is it possible to change the rep? I suspect that many of the positive changes that have been made over the last few years will not show up much until many years. It is kinda like a football team getting a new coach. It takes several years to get his people and system in place, and only then will you really see the changes. This is similar but on a much longer and grander scale. But the articles go to show, once again, that you have to read between the lines. Just like saying that teacher salary is among the lowest in the nation. But then you also have to realize that cost of living is among the lowest. This is where a cost of living/annual income index would be helpful.

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You make great points. I would not advocating lowering proficiency standards just to inflate numbers, which would result in higher rankings, but it might be worth it to tweak the way we report our numbers. Also, it all depends on what is actually being reported; people just don't take enough time to read between the lines and comprehend just what a particular report/ranking is actually saying. The SC Indicators Project somewhat helps in that regard. But as they say, perception is everything.

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SC has always had some very good public school systems in the state, but that was overshadowed by a lot of very bad systems which is where the bad rep came from in the first place. It's been a long time since I attended public school in SC, (far enough back to have attended segregated schools) so I don't know if it is still the same way now. When I attended college, I was definately at a disadvantage coming from the Horry county school system as compared to those from say Richland and it was a lot of hard work for me to catch up.

Speaking of segregation, when they integrated the schools in SC in the fall of 1970, a large number of private schools were created in the State. I know there was one in both Conway and Myrtle Beach and I am aware that most other cites of that size and larger had at least one. (they were pretty small towns in those days). These schools were expensive to attend so they tended to drain away the most well off demographic from the public school system which hurt the public schools greatly during this period.

A lot of these schools still exist and their scores are not included in SC rankings. And their presence still hurts the state. For example, a few years ago, I went to visit a friend in Bishopville. I learned that basically in that town, they have managed to maintain segregation because most of the white well off students attend Robert E. Lee Academy, and everyone else attends the public school there. The public school, I was told was not very good. So while SC has excellent schools in its major cities, its the places like Bishopville that really hurt.

I am not sure how how the state should go about trying to fix problems like that in the Bishopville example because a lot of how well a public school system functions depends upon how well the leaders of the city support it. And when they have checked out, positive change is difficult.

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I have heard of that. I know a friend of a friend who went to Robert E Lee Acadamy. You really can't do anything about it, since its a private school and a public school except for improving the public school. That kind of segregation is incredibly unortunate, but it also points out how bad our rural schools are in SC. Thats definately our biggest problem in this state, and one of the most challenging.

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I saw a television show recently about families who live in inner-city Philadelphia. The parents wanted their kids to have the best education possible, but they also worried that their children are being sheltered from the diversity and "real world experience" that tend to exist more in public schools. Although the factors are different in Philadelphia than they are somewhere like Bishopville, the considerations remain very similar. It puts parents in this situation in a tough position, as education as well as a wide range of exposure to people of different backgrounds (an education of sorts itself) are both extremely important. And of course, what about the majority of families who can't afford private school and are forced to send their children to these sub-par public schools?

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Since this thread has evolved to a discussion of the subject of public education, I move that the name of this thread be renamed "Public Education in SC."

In other news, Morgan Quitno has released its 2006-2007 Smartest States ranking. And we rank.....26th (3rd in the South, with VA at 6th and NC at 23rd), up three places from last year's ranking. This seems to corellate with the study I posted in the above posting quite well.

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  • 1 month later...

House Speaker Bobby Harrell is proposing a $16 million plan under which LIFE scholars who are studying math, science or engineering would receive an additional $2,500 per year, for a total of $7,500. Palmetto Fellows with technology majors would receive an additional $3,300 per year, for a total of $10,000. The grant would start in their sophomore year.

Backed up by representatives from BMW, Michelin, Roche Pharmaceuticals, BellSouth and the Savannah River Site, Harrell said he aims to create an incentive for more of the state

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