Accountability & Assessment

S.C. Code § 59-155-150 requires that students entering publicly funded prekindergarten and kindergarten beginning in Fiscal Year 2014–15 must be administered a readiness assessment by the forty-fifth day of the school year. In compliance with the South Carolina Read to Succeed Act and provisos, readiness assessments for students in prekindergarten and kindergarten are administered to publicly funded prekindergarten and kindergarten students. Each school district and private provider participating in a publicly funded prekindergarten program administered one of the two approved formative assessments to each child eligible for and enrolled in a publicly funded prekindergarten program during the first forty-five days and the last forty-five days of the school year. Assessments approved by the State Board of Education are Individual Growth and Development Indicators (myIGDIs^™) and Teaching Strategies GOLD^®.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA)

• The KRA provides a snapshot of students’ abilities at the beginning of the school year and is administered to all students enrolled in publicly funded kindergarten programs. The assessment measures a child’s school  readiness across multiple domains: Social Foundations, Language/Literacy, Mathematics, and Physical Well- Being. The KRA is administered during the first 45 days of the school year.

 South Carolina College and Career Ready Assessments (SC READY)

• Statewide assessment that measures student performance on the South Carolina Academic Standards. The SC READY test items are aligned to the standards for each subject (English language arts [ELA], mathematics, and  science) and grade level. SC READY is administered during the last 20 days of school as determined by the  district's instructional calendar.
• Grades 3-8 (ELA and Math)
• Grades 4 and 6 (Science)

 ACCESS for ELLs

• All students in grades K-12 who are determined to be English Language Learners - based upon the completion of a Home Language Survey and the initial assessment of their English proficiency - must take ACCESS for ELLs® each spring. This includes those students whose parents have waived direct MLP services. Students must continue to take ACCESS until they have scored “Fully English Proficient.”
• Grades K through 12

Gifted and Talented Assessments (GT)

The identification of gifted and talented students is a multi-step process which consists of screening and referral, assessment of eligibility, and placement. The objective of the grade 2 testing program is to evaluate each student for the purpose of placement into a district gifted and talented program.

• Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) – A series of nine, untimed tests. For screening into the gifted and talented program, a student must take all nine tests to receive all three scores: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal.
  • Grade 2
• Iowa Assessments (IA)
  • Grade 2
• Performance Task Assessments (PTA) - As a part of the process to assist in the identification of students for participation in programs for the gifted and talented, the state has developed performance assessments that are available for administration. Scoring of the assessments as well as training in their administration is provided by the Office of Assessment through a contractor. Students must meet qualifications for this testing.  Students who meet these qualifications will be notified by letter of their participation.
  • Grades 2-5

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Also known as the Nation's Report Card, the NAEP is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation’s students know and can do in subjects such as mathematics, reading, science, and writing. The NAEP uses a carefully designed sampling procedure for the assessment to ensure that assessment results are representative of the geographical, racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity of schools and students in the state.

Alternate Assessments

Alternate assessment are available for students with significant cognitive disabilities who are assessed against alternate achievement standards as they are unable to participate in the general assessment program even with appropriate accommodations.