Florence 1 Schools students exceed state growth according to new state testing data

New standardized test scores released Friday by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) show that Florence 1 Schools students exceeded state growth in SCREADY ELA and Math and End of Course exams (EOC). Students in South Carolina take the SCREADY Math and ELA test each year in grades 3-8 while EOCs are taken in high school credit-bearing classes.

Carver Elementary School saw double-digit student growth on SCREADY with an 11 percent and 12 percent increase in Meets or Exceeds for ELA and Math, respectively. Lester Elementary School and Savannah Grove Elementary School each had double-digit growth in one subject area. Dewey L. Carter Elementary School saw the highest percentage of growth in Math with a 16 percent jump.

“At Dewey L. Carter, we have made a concentrated effort over the past few years to intentionally focus on Math skills and Math facts fluency at an earlier stage of the school year in every grade level,” said Principal Wendy Frazier. “Our students are all placed in small groups with every available staff member providing extra help and assistance throughout the school day. As a result of our students' hard work, and our school family all pulling together to teach whenever possible, our students are showing substantial growth in their Math scores and we could not be more excited. We look forward to continued growth and success!”

Overall, as a district, 92 percent of Florence 1 elementary schools maintained or increased their percentage of students scoring Meets or Exceeds in ELA and/or Math from the 2022-23 to the 2023-24 school year.

One hundred percent of Florence 1 middle schools maintained or increased their percentage of students scoring Meets or Exceeds in ELA and/or Math from the 2022-23 to the 2023-24 school year, though the data shows there is room for improvement at all four schools.

Florence 1 high school students saw growth in their end-of-course exams with a 10 percent and 4 percent increase in district students scoring A or B on Algebra 1 and English 2 exams, respectively. The state saw a 3 percent and less than 1 percent increase in these same subject areas. All three Florence 1 high schools exceeded the state percentage of students scoring A, B, or C on at least 1 End-of-Course Exam.

“Over the last several years, I have asked my administrators to look at the data provided by the state to identify areas that they can make improvements in,” said Florence 1 Superintendent Richard O’Malley. “I believe we are seeing the benefits of their dedication to not only understanding the data but also understanding what the data means for their students and how it can influence their instruction.”