SC Waiver Summary from USDOE

HIGHLIGHTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S ESEA FLEXIBILITY REQUEST

COLLEGE- AND CAREER-READY expectations FOR ALL STUDENTS

South Carolina adopted rigorous English language arts and math standards now in place in 45 other States and the District of Columbia, with a strong plan to transition to the new standards.  South Carolina is working with the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium on revising its English language proficiency standards to align with the new college- and career-ready standards.  South Carolina is working with the National Center and State Collaborative to develop an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards aligned to the State’s new standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

IMPROVED STATE AND DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL STUDENTS

Ambitious Performance Targets:  South Carolina established new performance targets for reading and math based on increasing the average score on South Carolina’s current assessments.  Schools will be required to meet the new targets for all students and subgroups. 

Index System Based on High Expectations and Multiple Measures:  South Carolina will identify schools using an A-F grading system based on proficiency in reading, mathematics, science, and history as well as graduation rate for high schools.  To determine a school’s grade, South Carolina will determine whether individual subgroups meet achievement targets, the 95 percent assessment participation requirement, and graduation rate targets. 

Renewed Focus on Closing Achievement Gaps:  South Carolina will identify the schools in the State with the greatest challenges for groups of students as “Focus schools” and demand interventions to improve student performance.  Schools in the State with the largest achievement gaps will be identified as Focus schools, and these schools must develop a transformation plan that includes research-based interventions for the identified subgroups.             

To capture more schools in the accountability system, South Carolina has lowered from 40 to 30 the minimum number of students necessary for individual subgroup performance to be considered (known as “n-size”).  This change will increase the number of schools accountable for subgroup performance.  For example, the number of schools held accountable for students with disabilities will increase from 510 schools to 729 schools, which is 64 percent of all schools in the State.  South Carolina will also add male and female subgroup performance into its accountability system.

Aggressive Plan for Turning Around the Lowest-Performing Schools:  South Carolina will identify the lowest-performing schools in the State as “Priority schools” and will ensure that districts implement meaningful interventions in these schools.  South Carolina identified 9 percent of Title I schools as Priority schools.  Priority schools will assemble a Transformational Learning Community that consists of stakeholders from the school, district, local school board, State, and community to design a rigorous intervention strategy for the school. 

Building Capacity for School Improvement:  South Carolina is developing a Transformational Leaders Academy to recruit, train, place, and support principals in the lowest-performing schools.  South Carolina will support interventions in priority schools through its new Office of School Transformation that focuses resources exclusively on transforming schools.

Increased Accountability and Support for Districts:  South Carolina will assign districts school grades based on the academic performance and graduation rates.  South Carolina will support districts and schools through leveraging resources, reorganizing the State’s internal structure, and investing in strong school leaders.

Transparently Reporting on Students’ Progress:  South Carolina will publicly report on all elements of the school A-F grading system at the school and subgroup level, including academic achievement, academic growth, test participation, and graduation rate.

Creating a Well-Rounded Education:  To encourage schools to focus on a well-rounded curriculum, South Carolina will hold schools accountable for student performance in social studies and science, in addition to English language arts and math.

SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE INSTruCTION AND LEADERSHIP

South Carolina has had teacher evaluation and support systems in place since 1998 and is modifying the State’s existing system to include student growth.  South Carolina has developed guidelines for local teacher and principal evaluation and support systems, and will pilot the revised teacher and principal evaluation systems in a subset of schools during the 2013-14 school year.  The State will provide statewide training in summer 2014 in preparation for full implementation of the new systems during the 2014-15 school year.