Greenwood SC Education News — Page 3

How the Greenwood SC School Report Card Works

Every public school in Greenwood gets a yearly report card from the state. The report cards are published by the South Carolina Department of Education at screportcards.com, with ratings built on rules set by the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee in its Accountability Manual. This guide explains what the report card measures, how a school's rating is set, and how to read one. The ratings above are from the 2026 report cards (the 2025-26 school year).

The Five Rating Levels

Each school gets an overall rating, and each part of the report card (called an indicator) gets its own rating, on the same five-level scale:

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Below Average
• Unsatisfactory

A school shows Not Rated when it does not have enough data, for example when a group of students falls below the minimum of 20 needed to count. The current rating system began in 2018. No ratings were given in 2020 or 2021.

How a Rating Is Set

Each indicator is worth a set number of points. The school earns part or all of those points based on its results, the points are added up, and the total decides the overall rating. The exact cut-offs between levels are spelled out in the Education Oversight Committee's Accountability Manual. The points each indicator is worth, as shown in the state's 2026 report card data file, are:

Elementary and Middle Schools (100 points)

High Schools (100 points)

When a school has fewer than 20 multilingual learners, those 10 points move to other indicators before the overall rating is figured: split equally between Achievement and Student Progress for elementary and middle schools, and between Achievement and Graduation Rate for high schools. This does not change the individual indicator ratings.

What Each Indicator Measures

Academic Achievement

How students scored on state tests in English and math. Elementary and middle schools use SC READY (and SC-ALT for students who take the alternate test). High schools use the end-of-course exams in Algebra 1 and English 2, counting each student's highest score. The report card shows the share of students who meet or exceed expectations.

Student Progress

How much students grew from one year to the next, for elementary and middle schools. The state reports the share of progress points earned by all students and, separately, by the lowest-performing 20 percent of students.

Preparing for Success

Results on state science tests (SC READY Science in elementary and middle school) and, in high school, the science and U.S. History end-of-course exams.

Graduation Rate

The share of students who earn a diploma within four years of starting ninth grade. The count includes every student in that four-year group, graduates and non-graduates alike. The report card also shows a five-year rate.

College and Career Readiness

The share of students in the four-year graduation group who met at least one college-ready or career-ready mark. The state data lists measures such as the ACT, SAT, AP, IB, Cambridge, dual-enrollment credit, career and technical education completion, work-based learning, the ASVAB, and industry credentials.

Student Success in High School

Whether high school students are staying on track toward graduation year by year, using on-track rates for each grade and the five-year graduation rate.

Multilingual Learners' Progress

How students who are learning English are moving toward fluency, measured by the ACCESS English language test. It counts students who reach their yearly growth target and those who become proficient in English.

School Quality

Results from surveys of teachers and students. Teachers rate instructional focus, working conditions and safety; students rate the school's social and physical environment and safety. The report card shows survey scores and how many teachers and students took part.

Federal Requirements (ESSA)

Alongside the state ratings, South Carolina publishes the measures required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The state's data files include ESSA achievement and "preparing for success" indexes, results broken out by student group (such as race, disability, poverty and English learners), and test participation rates. These student-group results help show whether every group in a school is doing well, not just the school as a whole.

How to Read a Report Card

1. Start with the overall rating, then look at each indicator's rating to see where the school is strong or weak.
2. Compare with last year. The tables above show this year's and last year's rating side by side, and many report card pages show a three-year trend.
3. Compare with the district and the state. Each report card shows school, district and state results together.
4. Check the student groups. Look at how different groups of students performed and how many took the tests.
5. Read "N/A" carefully. It usually means fewer than 20 students were in that group, or the school did not serve those grades that year.
6. Look beyond scores. Report cards also show enrollment, teacher counts and pay, the school climate survey, and for high schools, career credentials earned.

To open any school's full report card, click its name in the tables above. The state's guide for families is at eoc.sc.gov, and the full data files are at screportcards.com.

Sources: South Carolina Department of Education, 2026 School Report Card data files and 2025-26 Report Cards FAQ (screportcards.com); SC Department of Education news release, Oct. 12, 2026 (ed.sc.gov).