State report cards show progress in Beaufort County schools
State education report cards released this month show Beaufort County public schools have made strides in keeping dropout rates lower and graduation rates higher.
Only 2.1 percent of students dropped out of school in 2014-2015 compared to 4.8 percent the previous year, according to the district's report released Nov. 19. Efforts to keep students in high school, coupled with an 85 percent increase in students taking college courses, contributed to a higher graduation rate for the fifth consecutive year.
"Overall, we're making progress in comparison to the state for overall academic student performance," superintendent Jeff Moss said.
Beaufort County 11th-graders scored higher than average on the first statewide ACT college entrance exam, and students of most grade levels performed well in social studies and math.
Moss said he was particularly proud that 315 high school students were enrolled in at least one course at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, University of South Carolina Beaufort or another college, up from 170 in 2013-2014.
The district also outperformed the state in obtaining WorkKeys certificates, required for job applicants by a growing number of businesses.
While state report cards did not offer grades this year, because the S.C. Department of Education is developing a new accountability tool, it did identify areas where there is room to improve.
The student-to-teacher ratio in core subjects rose to 31.6 students per teacher, up from 22.4 students per teacher in 2013-2014.
And there was no improvement in the portion of classes that lack "highly qualified teachers," a designation reserved for teachers with a bachelor's degree and certification in the area they teach.
In similar-sized districts, only 3 percent of classes were not taught by highly qualified teachers. In Beaufort County, that figure was 11 percent for the past two years, and much higher in some schools.
St. Helena Island Elementary School had the highest percentage of classes in the district not taught by highly qualified teachers -- at 57.6 percent, up from 40.4 percent last year.
Test scores at St. Helena also suffered across the board. For example, only about 10 percent of students met state standards in writing on the ACT Aspire test, compared to 26.2 districtwide and 24.2 statewide. In English, students trailed the district and state by about 30 percentage points. And in science, 58 percent of St. Helena students did not meet grade-level standards under the S.C. Palmetto Assessment of State Standards, compared to 32 percent statewide.
Several elementary schools -- Pritchardville, Port Royal, Okatie, Bluffton, Coosa and Beaufort -- exceeded most state and district averages.
Moss said the issues of less-qualified teachers and test scores should not be conflated, adding that some teachers who come from out of state are working toward their South Carolina certifications and are no less qualified than their local peers.
Instead, he pointed to the school's turnover rate -- about 30 percent of teachers did not return from the previous year.
To discourage the annual exodus from lower-performing schools, Moss said he is considering barring teachers from transferring within the district until they have served five years in one building.
He also hopes bringing down class sizes and hiring more reading teachers will improve test scores.
Beaufort county report card (Click or tap here for school-specific results)
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Jasper County report card (Click or tap here for school-specific results)
Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.
Related content:
- Graduation rates down from last year in 2 Beaufort County schools, rise overall, November 18, 2015
- Beaufort County 11th-graders outperform state on ACT exams, October 23, 2015
This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "State report cards show progress in Beaufort County schools."