The Hearst Foundation’s 62nd Annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Washington Week event will take place March 2-9, 2024, with current plans for a timely national selection process and an in-person program in Washington, D.C.

Two students from each state will be selected to attend and each student will receive a $10,000 college scholarship. Students must be currently serving in an elected or appointed position representing their school or constituency for the entire 2023-24 school year, must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents at the time of application to the U.S. Senate Youth Program, and must be able to attend the entire 2024 in person or online Washington Week event set for March 2-9, 2024. To review all student eligibility requirements and deadlines please visit our USSYP website.

Should you have any questions after reviewing the 2024 USSYP information, please contact Stephen Corsini at spcorsini@ed.sc.gov or Evers Montgomery at etmontgomery@ed.sc.gov for assistance.

The South Carolina Department of Education’s Office of Student Intervention Services is pleased to offer a series of school mental health training courses, and behavior interventions training opportunities. Please review the session descriptions below for additional information.

Please contact Suzanne Snyder at ssnyder@ed.sc.gov for more information.

Per the requirements of Gavin’s Law, Act 54 of 2023, local school districts shall collaborate with the State Department of Education, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Attorney General's office, as appropriate, to implement a policy to educate and notify students of the provisions of Gavin’s Law. This includes adequate notice to students, parents or guardians, the public, and school personnel of the change in law.

The Read to Succeed Act requires that the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), with the approval of the State Board of Education (SBE), develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine a comprehensive state plan for prekindergarten through grade twelve to improve reading achievement. The South Carolina State Reading Plan has been developed to guide the support of the SCDE for districts and schools. The South Carolina State Reading Plan also provides guidance to district and school plans as they work to support the reading and writing development of their students with research-based, outcomes-oriented strategies. The South Carolina State Reading Plan was approved by the SBE on June 10, 2015.

For questions pertaining to the completion and submission of the reading plans, please contact Marie Gibbons at 803-734-0529 or mgibbons@ed.sc.gov.

The Office of Assessment and Standards Science Team is excited to announce locations and dates for the Fall 2023 Science Regional Series. This free, face-to-face professional learning opportunity will be centered around curriculum adaptation for the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 (Science Standards). Participants from across the state will have the opportunity to collaborate and work towards adapting their district instructional materials to best fit the needs of their population of learners. Certificates of completion for 18 SCDE Renewal Activity Hours will be issued to participants who meet all expectations of the professional learning opportunity.

For more information about this free professional learning opportunity, please contact C. Lark Widener at clwidener@ed.sc.gov.

The Office of Early Learning and Literacy (OELL) is supporting South Carolina’s districts and schools implementing Literacy Essential for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Volume 1 and Volume 2. As part of the office’s statewide support, the OELL is offering a training series for administrators and reading coaches on implementing LETRS practices. Registration links and meeting dates may be found on the following page.

The Office of Early Learning and Literacy (OELL) supports South Carolina’s districts and
schools by providing Read to Succeed (R2S) Reading Coaches with two years of professional
learning. In order to receive the R2S Literacy Coach Endorsement, coaches must complete two
courses: Principles of Coaching and Action Research. During their first year, coaches must take
and complete the Principles of Coaching course. Coaches who are entering their second year
must take and complete the Action Research course. This two-year training will provide coaches with the R2S Literacy Coach Endorsement and certificates of completion.

If you have additional questions please contact Marie Gibbons, Read to Succeed Team Lead, at
mgibbons@ed.sc.gov.

The Office of Student Intervention Services is hosting a series of webinars titled Chronic Absenteeism, Dropout, Truancy, and Incident Management Data Collection, beginning Tuesday, August 22, 2023. These webinars are designed to help participants better understand state and federal data collection and reporting requirements.

If you have any questions, contact Aveene Coleman at 803-734-3057 or acoleman@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education’s Office of Student Intervention Services will offer four regional Blended Diploma Planning Institutes in partnership with the National Dropout Prevention Center for school level graduation teams. The Blended Diploma Planning Institute is a two-and-a-half-day working event that guides school level teams to build school-specific, research-based, and foundational dropout prevention plans that have a high probability of improving performance and graduation rates of at-risk students.

If you have any questions, please contact Aveene Coleman at acoleman@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-3057.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), in partnership with the Carolina Family Engagement Center and SERVE Region 6 Comprehensive Center at UNC Greensboro, will host the in-person, annual 2023 FACE Summit from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at the Cooperative Conference Center, 169, Laurelhurst Avenue, Columbia, SC 29210. This year’s Summit can benefit family-facing professionals, educators, administrators, who are focused on collaborative school, family, and community partnerships. The Summit aims to share family engagement supports relevant for all students.

If you have questions, please contact Regina Thurmond, Family and Community Engagement Liaison, at rthurmond@ed.sc.gov.

In keeping with the South Carolina Department of Education’s (SCDE) focus on ensuring that strategic initiatives support teachers and serve students, the agency is asking for your feedback on the issue of substitute teacher recruitment. Although substitutes were not explicitly named in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force Recommendations, many staff members have heard feedback regarding the difficulty in recruiting substitutes to the classroom and the impact on teachers and support staff of having to absorb responsibility for students without a substitute into their classrooms.

The Education Accountability Act (EAA) mandates computer-based testing for SC READY except for students with disabilities as specified in their Individualized Education Program, 504, or Individualized Language Acquisition Plan. The Technology Technical Assistance Proviso (Proviso 1.58) in the 2023 General Appropriations Bill allows districts and public charter schools to request a waiver from the State Board of Education (SBE) to administer the tests on paper.

Please send any questions to Susan Creighton at screight@ed.sc.gov in the Office of Assessment and Standards.

For accountability purposes related to the Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA), the Office of Career and Technical Education and Student Transition Services collects the Career Specialist Accountability Report (CSAR) twice each year—in January and June— to ensure school counseling personnel are coordinating or facilitating various career awareness, exploration, and preparation opportunities for students throughout the academic year. Additionally, data is collected from the individual graduation plans that must be developed or annually updated for all students in grades 8–12.

The Instructional Resources page to support the 2023 South Carolina College- and Career-Ready ELA Standards has been updated with support and supplemental documents to aid in the implementation of the 2023 SC CCR ELA Standards in the 2024-2025 school year.

For questions about these resources, please contact Mandy Hocker at mwhocker@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education is pleased to announce the Office of Personalized Learning is joining the Office of Assessment and Standards (OAS). Within OAS, the Personalized Learning Team will be offering free, blended professional learning opportunities designed to meet the diverse needs of educators in implementing student-centered learning practices.

For more information and registration details on the free professional learning opportunities to be offered during the 2023–2024 school year, please visit our professional development page at: https://personalizesc.ed.sc.gov/pd/ or email personalizedlearning@ed.sc.gov.

This memo provides an overview of required documentation for districts utilizing their 2023–24 reading/literacy coach allocation(s).

Requirements for the hiring of reading/literacy coaches continue under Proviso 1.51 for FY 2023–24. Districts may utilize funding to employ school-based reading/literacy coaches that may serve in a primary, elementary, or middle school or a combination of these schools depending on the area of highest need in the district. The district must align the placement of coaches to the district reading plan that is approved by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE).

Should you have any questions regarding funding, please contact Michael Scheele at 803-734-8145, mscheele@ed.sc.gov. Questions regarding the MOA and waiver should be directed to Marie Gibbons at 803-734-0529, mgibbons@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) Office of Assessment and Standards
(OAS) will offer free, two-day professional development (PD) for two instructional leaders
from each district in SC (preferably those who serve in roles such as district administrators/content specialists/teacher leaders). Sessions build upon one another;
therefore, representatives should plan to attend both days. Sessions will consist of face-to-face experiences to focus on the 2023 South Carolina College- and Career-Ready ELA Standards.
The sessions are designed in the train-the-trainer model where attendees will be equipped to
prepare the appropriate staff in their districts to transition to the new ELA standards in the
2024-2025 school year.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) Office of Assessment and Standards (OAS) and Office of Early Learning and Literacy (OELL) will offer free train-the-trainer professional development (PD) for literacy coaches from each school in SC. Sessions build upon one another; therefore representatives should plan to attend both days. Sessions will consist of face-to-face experiences to focus on the Foundations of Literacy strand of the 2023 South Carolina College- and Career-Ready ELA Standards with a specific focus on the kindergarten through second grade standards. The sessions are designed in the train-the-trainer model where attendees will be equipped to prepare the appropriate staff in their schools to teach the Foundations of Literacy standards as part of English language arts in the 2024-2025 school year.

For questions about these sessions, please contact Marie Gibbons at mgibbons@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education’s (SCDE) Office of Early Learning and Literacy (OELL) is pleased to announce some exciting opportunities for South Carolina families of early learners. This memo outlines the details for these opportunities.

For questions about the LECs or the family engagement sessions please contact Wendy Burgess at wburgess@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-5858.

Proviso 1.81 of the FY 2024 Appropriations Act authorizes the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) to distribute up to $20,000,000 to public school districts and charter school districts to make upgrades aligned with school safety priorities.

For more information, please contact James Rawl at 803-734-1698 or jbrawl@ed.sc.gov.

Proviso 1A.37. (SDE EIA: Aid to Districts Draw Down) states, in part, that school districts, Palmetto Unified District, and the Department of Juvenile Justice must work with local law enforcement agencies, and when necessary, state law enforcement agencies in order to ensure that the district has an updated school safety plan in place.

For additional clarification, please contact James Rawl at 803-734-1698 or Jbrawl@ed.sc.gov.