County students perform well on WorkKeys tests, district says

Beaufort County School District 11th-graders who took South Carolina's first statewide administration of the WorkKeys test outperformed students in other districts, a press release from the district said Tuesday.

Students who post qualifying scores earn "portable" certificates at the bronze, silver, gold or platinum levels that can be used to qualify for good-paying jobs anywhere in the nation. Increasing numbers of businesses require job applicants to have WorkKeys certificates.

Ninety percent of Beaufort County 11th-graders scored high enough during last spring's first WorkKeys administration to earn a certificate, compared to 88 percent of 11th-graders statewide. Sixty-nine percent of Beaufort County 11th-graders earned a Silver certificate or higher, compared to 63 percent of 11th-graders statewide.

Beaufort County tied for 12th among South Carolina's 86 school districts in the percentage of 11th-graders earning scores high enough for a silver, gold or platinum certificate, Beaufort County tied for 18th of 86 districts in the percentage of 11th-graders earning scores high enough for a bronze certificate or higher.

Among the district's five high schools:

WorkKeys exams comprise three 45-minute tests: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information. More than 50,000 11th-graders took the test statewide, including 1,187 from the Beaufort County district.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 8:52 AM with the headline "County students perform well on WorkKeys tests, district says."