From District website
Lexington-Richland School District Five is rated “Excellent” on the state report card for the fifth consecutive year and has the fourth highest absolute rating in the state, according to data released Nov. 14 by the South Carolina Department of Education.
South Carolina schools and districts receive both federal and state ratings annually. State report card ratings are part of the state’s Educational Accountability Act, whereby schools receive an Absolute rating of Excellent, Good, Average or At Risk. All schools in District Five received either Good or Excellent absolute ratings on this year’s state report card.
To view District Five’s school reports, click here !
From WLTX
SC School Districts Show Improvement on State Report Cards
Columbia, SC (WLTX) New report cards are out for South Carolina schools and school districts and they show improvement. Out of 82 school districts, 49 are rated “good” or “excellent.” That’s down one from last year, but the number of schools at the bottom, rated “below average” or “at-risk,” is 7, down from 15 in 2010. The high school graduation rate has also gone up to 80.1 percent, the highest in state history. Last year, the graduation rate was 77.5 percent.
Mark Bounds, spokesman for Lexington/Richland District 5, which got a rating of “excellent,” says the report cards are important for parents, schools, and districts.
“Just like students get report cards, it’s important that schools get report cards so that our community understands where we are and where we’re going,” he says. “It’s important for the district because it gives us a target. The grade is important so we know where we are today, but it also gives us information that we can use to get better every day.”
The state won’t issue report cards for the next two years as it transitions to a combined state and federal report card for schools. Now, those are separate, which can cause confusion. For example, 51 percent of the state’s schools were rated “excellent” on the state report card but only 13 percent got the top ranking on the federal report card.
State education superintendent Dr. Mick Zais says, “Moving to one accountability system and just one annual report card will make it easier for everyone to understand how their school district and school is performing.”
He wants the new combined report card to be weighted heavily toward the federal guidelines because they’re more rigorous and hold schools to a higher performance standard.