News Releases

October 30, 2019
South Carolina Class of 2019 Shows Improvement on ACT: Today, The ACT® released assessment data for 2019 South Carolina high school graduates who took the ACT test. South Carolina public school graduates' average composite score increased from 18.0 in 2018 to 18.6 in 2019. Additionally, 24% of graduates met three or four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks up from 21% in 2018.

October 21, 2019
Public Invited to Review Proposed Instructional Materials and Textbooks: The public is invited to review textbooks and instructional materials that have been proposed for use in South Carolina’s K-12 public schools in fourteen subject areas. The materials will be on display through November 15, 2019 in twenty physical locations throughout the state as well as online.

October 8, 2019
South Carolina Department of Education and Partners To Unveil 2020 African American History Calendar: Today, the South Carolina Department of Education and statewide partners will unveil the 2020 South Carolina African American History Calendar in a special celebration at 7:00 p.m. at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia.

October 7, 2019
Over 200 Schools Recognized as Palmetto Gold and Silver Award Winners: Today, State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman and the South Carolina Department of Education announced that 249 schools across South Carolina have received the recently revised Palmetto Gold and Silver awards for their performance during the 2018-2019 school year.

October 1, 2019
2019 School Report Cards Released: Today, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) released school, district, and state report cards. The 2019 report cards reflect school, district, and overall state performance during the 2018-2019 school year and are the second iteration of report cards that meet the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

September 26, 2019
Four South Carolina Schools recognized as 2019 National Blue Ribbon Schools: State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman has announced that four South Carolina schools were recognized by the United States Department of Education as 2019 National Blue Ribbon Schools.

September 26, 2019
South Carolina Department of Education to Fund 205 New School Resource Officers: Today, State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman announced the funding of 205 new school resource officers (SROs) that will be stationed in schools across the state that currently lack coverage. The funding for the new resource officers was appropriated by the South Carolina General Assembly for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

September 24, 2019
South Carolina's Class of 2019 Outperforms Nation on Advanced Placement, Sees Record Participation in SAT: Today, the College Board released national and South Carolina specific results for their SAT and Advanced Placement assessments. South Carolina students again exceeded the nation on eight out of the top ten tested subjects of Advanced Placement exams. The state’s decision to cover the costs of the SAT assessment and the implementation of the SAT School Day resulted in an over 6,000 more students taking the test, an increase of nearly thirty percent from 2018 and one of the largest increases in the country.

September 11, 2019
New Report Highlights South Carolina's Achievements in Computer Science Education: Today, Code.org, the Computer Science Teachers Association, and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance, released the 2019 State of Computer Science Education report. The report shows South Carolina continues to be on the cutting edge in Computer Science policy and as a result, student participation is the fastest growing in the nation.

September 10, 2019
South Carolina Department of Education Awards Over $4 Million in 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants: The South Carolina Department of Education has announced the 2019-2020 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grant funding awardees.The total number of grant funding awarded is $4,155,544 to fifteen school districts and non-profits that will serve twenty-four schools.

July 19, 2019
South Carolina Students Participate in SkillsUSA Championships: Eleven students from South Carolina recently competed in the SkillsUSA Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 26-27. During this competition, more than 6,400 outstanding career and technical education students — all state contest winners — competed hands-on in 103 different trade, technical, and leadership fields.

July 15, 2019
Public Invited to Review Proposed Supplemental Instructional Materials and Textbooks: The public is invited to review supplemental textbooks and instructional materials for South Carolina High School Credential (SCHSC) courses that have been proposed for use in South Carolina’s public schools.

June 26, 2019
Powdersville High's Leslie Martin Named 2019 South Carolina History Teacher of the Year: Leslie Martin, a teacher at Powdersville High School in Anderson School District One, has been named the 2019 South Carolina History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

May 22, 2019
Dutch Fork Elementary Recognized by U.S. Department of Education as S.C.'s First Green Ribbon School: The U.S. Department of Education released the names of thirty-five schools that have been selected as the 2019 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools awardees. Dutch Fork Elementary is the first school in South Carolina to be selected since the Green Ribbon Schools program began in 2011.

May 21, 2019
Sixty-One South Carolina Students Achieve Twelve Year Perfect Attendance: Sixty-one South Carolina students have achieved perfect attendance throughout their entire academic career and have been recognized by the state.

May 15, 2019
Office of Career and Technology Education Announce 2019 Statewide Award Winners: The South Carolina Department of Education's Office of Career and Technology Education (CTE) is proud to announce four statewide award winners for 2019.

May 14, 2019
Four South Carolina Students Named U.S. Presidential Scholars: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced the 55^th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars. Four of the 161 high school seniors being recognized are from South Carolina.

May 13, 2019
Over 3,500 South Carolina Students Named Junior Scholars: The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is proud to announce that this year there were 3,545 South Carolina Junior Scholars from all public, private, and home schools.

May 8, 2019
Chanda Jefferson of Fairfield Central High Named 2020 South Carolina Teacher of the Year: State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman has announced that the 2020 South Carolina Teacher of the Year is Chanda Jefferson, a Biology teacher at Fairfield Central High School in the Fairfield County School District.

April 29, 2019
Statement from State Superintendent Molly Spearman on May 1 Teacher Walkout: State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman has released a statement on the impending teacher walkout on May 1st.