In numbers released by the State Department of Education last week, the Fairfield County School District continues to show varied results on Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) tests. Statewide, larger percentages of public school students met state standards on the tests, while achievement gaps narrowed in most grades and subject areas on both assessments, the State Department said.
State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais said this year’s results were encouraging and that educators and students should be congratulated.
“Our focus must always be on what happens in the classroom between a teacher and students,” Zais said. “Credit for these results belongs to the hard work of students, teachers, and parents across South Carolina. Student achievement should continue to increase if we encourage policies that personalize and customize education for every child.”
The Highs and Lows, School by School
Fairfield Elementary
In the writing assessment test, which was only taken by fifth- and eighth-grade students, 71.1 percent of students tested scored “Not Met” at the fifth-grade level. In English Language Arts (ELA), the school saw its biggest success at the third-grade level, where 45.8 percent scored “Met” and 20.8 percent scored “Exemplary.” The school’s lowest performance in ELA came at the fifth-grade level, where 69.7 percent scored “Not Met.”
In Mathematics, 38.2 percent of fourth-graders scored “Met,” while 25 percent of sixth-graders scored “Exemplary.” Fifth-graders had the most difficulty, with 56.6 percent scoring “Not Met.”
In Science, fourth-graders again led the way with 51.5 percent scoring “Met,” while among third-graders, 84.2 percent scored “Not Met.”
In Social Studies, it was also fourth-graders who showed the best numbers, with 54.4 percent scoring “Met,” while 72.2 percent of fifth-graders scored “Not Met.”
Geiger Elementary
In the writing assessment, 54.3 percent of fifth-graders scored “Not Met,” 40 percent scored “Met” and 5.7 percent scored “Exemplary.” In ELA, 50 percent of fifth-graders scored “Met,” 48 percent of third-graders scored “Exemplary” and 55.1 percent of sixth-graders scored “Not Met.”
In Mathematics, 47.1 percent of fifth-graders scored “Met,” 52 percent of third-graders scored “Exemplary” and 57.1 percent of sixth-graders scored “Not Met.”
In Science, 43.8 percent of fourth-graders met their objectives, 23.1 percent of third-graders scored “Exemplary” and 66.7 percent of fifth-graders scored “Not Met.”
In Social Studies, 46.9 percent of fourth-graders scored “Met,” 16.7 percent of sixth-graders scored “Exemplary” and 66.7 percent of third-graders scored “Not Met.”
Kelly Miller Elementary
In the writing assessment, 54.3 percent scored “Met,” 20 percent “Exemplary” and 25.7 percent “Not Met.” In ELA, 65.7 percent of fifth-graders met their goals, 41.2 percent of sixth-graders scored “Exemplary” and 25 percent of third-graders scored “Not Met.”
In Mathematics, 54.3 percent of fifth-graders scored “Met,” 35.3 percent of sixth-graders “Exemplary” and 50 percent of third-graders “Not Met.”
In Science, 72.2 percent of sixth-graders scored “Met,” 11.8 percent of fifth-graders “Exemplary” and 53.8 percent of third-graders “Not Met.”
In Social Studies, 62.5 percent of sixth-graders met their goals, 29.3 percent of fourth-graders scored “Exemplary” and 54.5 percent of third-graders “Not Met.”
McCrorey-Liston Elementary
In the writing assessment, 53.6 percent met goals and 17.9 percent scored “Exemplary.” In ELA, 48.5 percent of sixth-graders scored “Met,” 46.7 percent of third-graders “Exemplary” and 46.4 percent of fifth-graders scored “Not Met.”
In Mathematics, 56 percent of fourth-graders scored “Met,” 26.7 percent of third-graders “Exemplary” and 35.7 percent of fifth-graders “Not Met.”
In Science, 52.9 percent of sixth-graders scored “Met,” only 7.1 percent of fifth-graders “Exemplary” and 64 percent of fourth-graders scored “Not Met.”
In Social Studies, 62.5 percent of sixth-graders scored “Met,” 14.3 percent of fifth-graders “Exemplary” and 50 percent of fifth-graders “Not Met.”
Magnet School
In the writing assessment test, 50 percent of students tested met state objectives and 32.6 percent scored “Exemplary.” In ELA, 88.9 percent of fourth-graders scored either “Met” or “Exemplary.” At the fifth-grade level, 26.1 percent did not reach objectives.
In Mathematics, 65.2 percent of fifth-graders scored “Met,” while 40.7 percent of fourth-graders scored “Exemplary.” In Science, 78.3 percent of fifth-graders scored “Met,” and 24.1 percent of fourth-graders scored “Exemplary.” In Social Studies, 57.6 percent of sixth-graders scored “Met,” while 62.5 percent of third-graders scored “Exemplary.”
Fairfield Middle School
In the writing assessment, 35.1 percent of eighth-graders scored “Met,” while 26.7 percent scored “Exemplary.” In ELA, 44.5 percent of seventh-graders scored “Met,” while 22.9 percent of eighth-graders scored “Exemplary.” In Mathematics, 48.3 percent of eighth-graders scored “Met,” while 19.7 percent of seventh-graders scored “Exemplary.” In Science, 52 percent of eighth-graders scored “Met,” and 16.3 percent of eighth-graders scored “Exemplary.” In Social Studies, 46.3 percent of seventh-graders scored “Met” and 29.3 percent scored “Exemplary.”
“Over the coming year, we will evaluate and make sure we have a consistent level of instruction across the board, to make sure we don’t drop off from one grade level to the next,” J.R. Green, Superintendent of Fairfield County Schools, said. “These are different groups of students, so you expect some variation, but there shouldn’t be that much variation.”
