SC students still struggle with reading and math while racial disparities widen

MORNING NEWSBREAK: Fewer than a third of South Carolina public school eighth-graders are proficient in math at their grade level, according to statewide test results released Friday by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE).

Locally, results showed that Charleston County School District (CCSD) students continued to outperform the statewide average at all grade levels. In 8th grade, 59.1% met expectations in English Language Arts (ELA) or reading and 41.7% met expectations in math. CCSD officials called these results a “historic record” for student success.

The comparatively big bright spot for the state was reading (ELA), where 50.3% of eighth-graders achieved proficiency for their grade level.

In earlier grades, the numbers were slightly better in both subject areas. The best national result was reported in English in fourth grade, where 57.2% of students met grade level expectations.

Particularly notable were the widening gaps between students of different ethnic and economic backgrounds after the pandemic. In 2019, for example, 18.1% of black eighth-graders and 29.2% of Latinos met expectations in math. Today, those numbers are 13.1% and 22.5%, respectively.