[EdTalks] Understanding the South Carolina School Report Card

Ever wondered what the grades on a school's "report card" really mean? In South Carolina, public schools receive an annual rating, but understanding the story behind the data is crucial for parents, educators, and community members. This is the central question we explore in our deep dive into the South Carolina School Report Card. Joined by longtime educator Mary Leslie Anderson and former school trustee Derek Lewis, we unpack this high-stakes accountability system. We break down the complex metrics, discuss the origins of the system from the No Child Left Behind Act, and question what these scores can and cannot tell us about a school's true quality and culture.

In this episode, we explore exactly what is on the SC school report card, from academic achievement and student growth metrics to school climate surveys. Our guests explain how school leaders use this data for accountability and goal setting, translating district-wide objectives into tangible classroom strategies. We also provide guidance on how to interpret school report cards, emphasizing the importance of looking at trends over time rather than a single year's score. The conversation highlights the recent record-setting Greenville County Schools performance, celebrating the successes while also acknowledging areas for statewide improvement, such as support for multilingual learners. Most importantly, we discuss what school report cards leave out - the intangible "vibe," the culture of a building, and the day-to-day experiences of students and teachers. This discussion offers a more holistic framework for evaluating schools, moving beyond test scores to understand what truly makes a school a good fit. By the end, you'll have a much clearer understanding of the South Carolina School Report Card and feel empowered to use it as a tool to start conversations, not just to pass judgment.

Episode Resources

• Access the SC School Report Card

Introduction to the South Carolina School Report Card

Catherine Schumacher: Here in South Carolina, it isn't just students that get report cards. It is also our public schools themselves. Originally launched as part of increased accountability under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the annual South Carolina School Report Card release carries high stakes for school and district leadership, along with principals and classroom teachers.

I'm Catherine Schumacher of Public Education Partners, and on today's Simple Civics Ed Talks, Derek Lewis of Greenville First Steps and Mary Leslie Anderson of Rooted Consulting and a longtime educator talk with me about the South Carolina Report Card, what it tells us about our schools, and what it leaves out.

Well, Derek and Mary Leslie, thank you for coming today to talk about school report cards. It is an area that we've been talking about a lot in Greenville recently, a lot of success. Like many things in the space, it's something that I don't know a lot about.

As a parent and a community partner, I'm curious to know—we hear a lot about the report cards. We certainly celebrate when things go well and then we really dig in when we think things don't go well. I want to talk to the two of you as experts.

Mary Leslie, as a former principal working in district administration, can you talk us through what the South Carolina Report Card is? What is the origin story and how is it used for better or worse in our schools?

The Legislative Origins of School Accountability

Mary Leslie Anderson: Most of the school report card originates in the 2002 legislation from President Bush, No Child Left Behind. I think a lot of people remember that. I happened to be a newer teacher at the time, so I really remember it. That is when school report cards came out and the accountability for teachers and schools became prevalent.

No Child Left Behind is now the Every Student Succeeds Act. These have evolved a lot over the last 20 or 25 years. What the school report card does is gives a grade or a score. It's been several different things over the years, but we're currently operating in a score.

It gives an overview of a school and their ability to grow students. As it currently sits, every state has their own version of the school report card and teacher and school accountability that you submit to the federal government for approval.

Catherine Schumacher: They're all different. The school report card here in South Carolina is going to be different from the school report card in, say, Massachusetts. It's really hard to compare states when all of the measures are completely different.

For listeners, if you go to the South Carolina Department of Education website, there is a robust series of pages about the report card. You can go directly there and look up your school or look up districts and see all of these different factors. Mary Leslie, what are some of the things that are on the report card?

Key Metrics and Measurements

Mary Leslie Anderson: Schools are measured by a handful of areas that have not changed in the last couple of years. One is academic achievement. There's a section called Preparing for Success that focuses on science in fourth grade, sixth grade, and biology for high school.

There is a Multilingual Learners Progress section and a Whole Student Progress section, where you're looking at growth. Lastly, there is school climate.

Catherine Schumacher: It looks different regarding what's on the report card and what goes into the calculations for elementary, middle, and high school.

Mary Leslie Anderson: It is different for each level. I was just talking about a middle school. That's my jam.

Catherine Schumacher: Derek, along those lines, as a former trustee, how does the administration use this with trustees? And Mary Leslie, how is it used for accountability and communication with principals, setting goals, and with teachers?

How School Leaders Use Report Card Data

Derek Lewis: The thing that interested me the most when I was on the board was how a school score changed over time. It was not appropriate to look at a school and say, "You have an 85 and therefore you're an excellent school and you'll always be excellent."

It's whether you were 85 this year and you were 82 last year; what was the improvement that brought you up? It could be that you improved because your kids are improving at a certain rate. It could be that you dropped because your kids are improving at a rate lower than they did last year, which is not necessarily a negative thing. You can't keep the same levels of growth every time.

I was really more interested in those over time changes. The other thing that's interesting to me is there is data in the report card that is more consistently objective. You can look at financial data and the turnover rate of teachers in the school.

You can look at how long a principal has been in place. There are things that you could look at to say, "I don't know what the difference is between the culture at J.L. Mann and Greenville High School, but I can see things that are consistently measured and see how these two schools might be different."

Catherine Schumacher: How is all of this information used in a building to help students learn?

Mary Leslie Anderson: It is a centerpiece for goals for principals. Principals set these growth goals every single year with their supervisors, and that is a center of a principal's evaluation.

Every fall, after we've disaggregated all of this data, we create goals for each piece. Those full school goals are translated down to the goals that teachers make. The question for each teacher is: what is your place in meeting the school goal? What is it that you can do to help us meet these goals?

The Strengths and Limitations of Standardized Data

Catherine Schumacher: What are the pros and the cons from your perspective of this kind of accountability structure?

Mary Leslie Anderson: As a former principal and former teacher, we have to track the job that we're doing and the growth that we're providing our students and our community. The principal is the single most effective piece in a building to grow teachers. The teacher in the classroom is the single most effective piece that grows students.

I believe that. If we don't set these goals, it's like a corporation not setting sales goals. Why would you not do that? Yes, there's a lot of testing. As a teacher, I wanted to be creative. I wanted to teach my heart out. I didn't want these tests to get in my way. Then I really bought into the data when I saw how much I personally grew students.

Catherine Schumacher: It helps you focus.

Mary Leslie Anderson: Yes. I tried to let go of the mantra against standardized testing. Once I let that go, I was able to be a lot more creative and autonomous because my goal was to grow my students.

I really do believe that's the biggest piece: the principal in the building and the teachers in each classroom. If we're focusing on growing our students, and these are the measures we have by which to assess that, let's use them.

Catherine Schumacher: Derek, what do you think?

Derek Lewis: A lot of people are moving into the upstate and don't know what neighborhoods to move into, and they are trusting realtors. Outcomes are important. Graduation rates are important.

There is a section in the report card where you can look at the number of police incidences that happened at the school over the year. Those are things that parents should have. That is objective information that could help you decide whether to live in this neighborhood or that neighborhood based on whether that school feels comfortable to you.

I think there is some good data here. The challenge is that there's also a lot of data that's reliant on one-day test performance. For some of our students, it might matter what time of day they took the test, how they felt that day, or if there was snow on the ground the week before.

There's so much that influences that snapshot that I worry we put too much reliance on test performance as a measure. I would encourage families looking at these report cards to ask, "Is this what I feel like about my school?" Maybe it starts a conversation with your school rather than deciding a school is good or bad based on the number it got on a specific performance measure.

Analyzing Performance Trends in Greenville County

Catherine Schumacher: In Greenville, the outcomes this year on the report card were record setting. It was really knocking it out of the park. As a partner to Greenville County Schools, all of us at PEP were super excited.

I'm looking at the fact that 97.7 percent of the schools were excellent, good, or average. I always say that average is awesome. Average demonstrates that you are moving kids along and the growth is really good.

It is hard sometimes because people hear average or good and they think otherwise, but to demonstrate student growth is really strong. To have that many schools reaching those benchmarks in a district the size of Greenville—with the high poverty rates and high percentage of multilingual learners—is significant.

Underneath that, there's always place to do better. The district is also very aware of that. We can do a better job with multilingual learners and with special ed students in particular. These are statewide needs.

It's important to look at where a school or a district is part of that larger narrative. Where is there opportunity for growth? Those are the sweet spots to focus on. What is it that's not on the report card? What kinds of things would you encourage people to think about when thinking about schools that might be a good fit for their kiddo?

The Importance of School Culture and Vibe

Mary Leslie Anderson: The culture and feel of a school is not on a school report card. The vibe. There is a climate piece there, and that's survey data, but I encourage those who are moving into the area or moving within the area to go visit the school.

You can walk in a school and you get the vibe. That is so important. Talk to other parents, talk to the administrators, teachers, and other students.

At my former school where I was a principal, we had students and staff members who did tours all the time. One of the pieces of feedback I always got was, "You can really feel the vibe here." Visiting the school and talking with the community around that school is number one when looking for the right school for a kid.

Derek Lewis: I agree. It is about feeling how the school feels today versus someone's perception of the school when they were there 15 years ago. That's one of the challenges with Greenville County Schools; some schools have been a certain way for decades.

Principal changes, a new school environment, and a totally different vibe can happen, but people remember it from when they were in school 25 years ago. They haven't adjusted their perceptions because they haven't been in the school.

I love that idea of taking a tour and talking to students who are currently in the school about how they feel there. Schools have gone to uniforms or not since you've been there, and that totally changes the feel of the school.

Accessing Information and Resources

Catherine Schumacher: We will put the link to the Department of Education website where you can find the South Carolina report card information. If you care about schools, it's an interesting place to spend time.

It's particularly important if you're going to talk about advocacy and how important it is to keep investing in our public schools. Charter schools are in there too. Your public charter schools are in there, but private schools are not included because they do not have the same accountability standards as the public schools.

As a resource, it's important for listeners to know how to get there. Thanks, y'all. I appreciate the conversation about the report card. Simple Civics Ed Talks is a joint project of Greater Good Greenville, Greenville First Steps, and Public Education Partners Greenville County.