DARLINGTON – While high school graduation rates for most of South Carolina’s public high schools – and for the state overall – dropped on the annual state school report cards released Thursday, the Darlington County School District improved its graduation rate to the fifth highest in the state among all 86 public school districts – compared to 20th last year - and the highest among all Pee Dee school districts.

That improvement, coupled with higher scores on the state’s PASS (Palmetto Assessment of State Standards) test helped make Darlington County the 12th highest performing school district in South Carolina and the highest performer in the Pee Dee on the 2010 school report cards. Last year the district ranked 46th in the state on report card performance.

“We are ecstatic,” said Superintendent of Education Dr. Rainey Knight.

State education officials released the report cards for high schools and school districts Thursday. Report cards for elementary and middle schools were released in November. “Our elementary and middle schools did a tremendous job of improving their performance on PASS,” Knight said.

The high school graduation rate is a key component to how high schools are rated on the report cards. Darlington County improved its high school graduation rate for 2010 to 87.5 percent from 79.8 percent in 2009, according to district report card data.

That helped boost the district’s Absolute rating on the report card from Below Average in 2009 to Good in 2010, while its Growth rating improved from At-Risk in 2009 to Excellent in 2010. Knight welcomed the Growth rate improvement as well. “We were devastated when we were rated At-Risk last year,” she said.

Seventeen school districts received Absolute ratings of Excellent or Good on the 2010 report card. Darlington County was the only Pee Dee district among the 17. The rankings are based on index figures derived from a formula that factors in test scores and graduation rates.

“This shows we can hang with the best,” Knight said. “We performed right along with Fort Mill (York 4), Lexington 1, Lexington 5, Anderson, Spartanburg, Dorchester. All of those are very affluent districts. That is very significant. It’s going to be a difficult task to continue on this road, but that’s going to be our challenge.”

“We see the things that are going on in the classrooms and they’re making a difference in student performance,” Knight said. Knight pointed out that the district’s improvements came during a time of financial turmoil for public schools in the state and for the district. District officials have cut $19 million from the district’s general operations budget over the past two years in response to mid-year funding cuts from the state.

“You know, we’re looking at at least another $5 million cut this year,” she said. “We’ve cut resources, we’ve cut development and training. And these teachers still continue to make it happen. They have rallied behind each other, with each other and for each other and done what teachers do, make things happen.

“We’re not going to use lack of money as an excuse. It’s going to be a challenge to ensure that the money is in the right places and that we have the right people in the right places. But our challenge is to continue on that road to academic excellence.”

With a poverty index of 81.38 percent, Darlington County is not among the state’s most affluent school districts, Knight pointed out. “If you look at the district’s poverty index, nobody came close to us on the poverty rating and did as well as we did on the report cards,” she said.

The state’s 2010 graduation rate, which tracks the percentage of students who complete high school on time and get a diploma in four years, fell 1.6 percentage points to 72.06 percent from 73.7 percent the previous year, according to the data.

State education officials said 59 percent of the state’s high schools reported lower graduation rates, with decreases of 10 percentage points or more for 26 schools.
All four of Darlington County’s four high schools improved their graduation rates and achieved rates well above the state’s rate.

Hartsville High School improved its graduation rate from 81.0 percent in 2009 to 84.6 percent. Darlington High School’s rate improved from 72.1 percent to 84.9 percent. Lamar High School improved its rate from 83.8 percent to 95.9 percent. And Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology boosted its rate from 96.3 percent to 100 percent.

Among school districts with characteristics similar to those of Darlington County, the graduation rate dropped from 74.9 percent in 2009 to 72.1 percent in 2010, according to the report card data.

The four-year on-time graduation rate is calculated using the federally approved method that all states will use by the end of this year.
The high school graduation rate accounts for 30 percent of a school or district’s ratings on the report cards.

Most of the district’s high schools showed improvement or maintained their performance on the report card ratings. Darlington High improved its Absolute rating from At-Risk in 2009 to Average in 2010, while its Growth rating went from At-Risk to Excellent. Lamar High’s Absolute rating of Good in 2009 remained Good in 2010. Lamar’s Growth rating improved from Below Average to Good.

Mayo maintained Absolute and Growth ratings of Excellent. Only Hartsville High showed a decline in its ratings, with its Absolute rating slipping from Excellent in 2009 to Good in 2010, while its Growth rating declined from Excellent to At-Risk.
Exit exam scores and end-of-course exam scores are also factored into the report card ratings.

High schools and districts across the state generally improved their report card ratings compared to 2009, according to the Department of Education. More high schools had Absolute ratings of Excellent, Good or Average in 2010 statewide from 154 in 2009 to 169, and the number of districts attaining Absolute ratings of Excellent, Good or Average more than doubled in 2010 from 25 to 64.

Schools and school districts receive one of five ratings – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average or At-Risk – on an Absolute rating scale based on the year’s performance and a Growth rating scale that compares performance from year to year.

Ratings formulas are based on student achievement levels set by the state’s Education Oversight Committee, created by the General Assembly to guide implementation of South Carolina’s Education Accountability Act of 1998.

Knight pointed out that the gap in graduation rates between white students and African-American students in the district closed to within 4.8 percentage points in 2010 with the rate for African-American students at 85.5 percent and for white students at 90.3 percent. But the gap between male and female students remains high, she said, at 8.7 percentage points with a rate of 83.1 percent for males and 91.8 percent for females.

Knight said the district has implemented strategies at the high school level to improve graduation rates aimed at making failure “not an option” for students. “I think we have to provide more opportunities to our students and help them to better understand what are their responsibilities for their own education, and that is what we’re trying to do,” she said.

The district has been working to provide more resources to help classroom teachers focus on the academic needs of their students. “And they’re focusing like lasers on instruction,” she said.
“We’re asking children to do more, and to dig a little deeper for answers,” Knight said. “And I think our students are stepping up to the plate. I see more of them looking at education as ‘this is about me and my future’ and ‘what can I do to do my part?’ I think parents are getting more involved, and that’s making a difference. We’re giving every parent direct access to their child’s teacher’s grade book. That’s another tool for parents.”

Teachers are using specialized software programs that help students who get behind in their studies get caught back up on credits and units with after-school and tutorial sessions, she said. “When a child wants to take more responsibility for their own learning, this is another option to help them do that,” she said.

Principals and staffs at the high school level have also done a good job of making sure the necessary paperwork to track student transfers gets taken care of, Knight said. “There are a lot of transfers in and out over four years, and you’ve got to have the proper documentation to track it,” she said. “Our principals and assistant principals are doing a stupendous job, and you can see that in these results.”

State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais said South Carolina’s future is dependent on improving high school graduation rates, and he said the state’s public schools have a lot of work to do to bring about that improvement.

“To improve the long-term prospects for economic growth and job creation in South Carolina, we must graduate more students from high school,” Zais said. “The bottom line for parents, students, educators and taxpayers is that slightly more than one out of every four students fails to graduate on time.

“A one-size-fits-all approach to public education won’t increase graduation rates. We need creative, innovative and student-centered solutions that match students with learning environments that meet their needs. We need courses that demonstrate the relevance of coursework to the world of work. And we need to ensure that students master the basic skills necessary to successfully complete high school.”

“The EOC is pleased to see progress in the school and district ratings driven by improvements made in student achievement,” said EOC Chairman Neil C. Robinson Jr. “But we cannot overlook those areas of the state where student performance continues to decline over time and achievement gaps persist. Communities and individuals are facing hardships during these challenging times, but we can’t back away from the goals we have set for our students, schools and our state. We must remain relentless.”