Columbia, SC – Today, the South Carolina Department of Education released statewide public school results for ACT WorkKeys, a career readiness assessment taken by high school students in the spring of the 2016-2017 school year.

“Our state has tremendous job and career opportunities available to our graduates," said State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman.

"We must continue to work collaboratively with the business community to strengthen our work-based learning experiences while students are still in school as well as offer additional academic opportunities for all in order to ensure that students graduate with the skills needed to meet the demands of our state's workforce."

All 11th grade students in the spring of 2017 took ACT WorkKeys assessment. ACT WorkKeys is a workplace skills assessment that identifies how prepared students are for available jobs and careers. The WorkKeys assessment was administered to all 11th graders for the first time in 2015.

50,681 students took the WorkKeys assessment statewide. 60.8% of students earned Silver or higher indicating they have the skills necessary for 67% of the jobs in ACT’s jobs database. 14.8% of students scored Gold or higher indicating they are equipped with the skills for at least 93% of profiled jobs. 

63 students scored at the Platinum level, indicating they qualify for virtually every job in the ACT database. These students will be honored by Superintendent Spearman.

State, School District, and School Level Data for the WorkKeys assessment can be accessed by visiting this link. 

Results for the ACT, a college readiness assessment also taken by all 11th grade students, will be released later this month once data provided by ACT can be fully verified by districts and the SC Department of Education.

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