Here’s good news about SC schools. More 3rd graders passed a reading test
South Carolina consistently ranks among states with the worst reading scores on the nation’s report card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But a recent test indicates the state may be moving at least one needle.
During the most recent school year, fewer third graders failed reading assessments. That carries extra significance this year because a new law prevents third graders from moving to the fourth grade if they aren’t meeting those expectations.
From third grade through eighth grade, students take the South Carolina College-and Career-Ready Assessments test on English language arts and mathematics. The students are categorized into four different performance levels: does not meet, approaches, meets and exceeds expectations. The English section, which is designed to evaluate reading comprehension and writing, consists of three different exams lasting about an hour and a half each.
During the 2023-24 academic year, more than 57,000 third graders were assessed, and about 26% — or 16,238 — did not meet expectations, according to the state Department of Education. Had the new law been in effect then, nearly all of those students would have had to repeat third grade.
This year, that number was nearly cut in half.
Education department spokesman Jason Raven said even though more than 58,000 third graders were tested this year, preliminary numbers show that 9,281 did not meet expectations on their English assessment tests. That’s about 43% less than the previous year.
David Mathis, chair-elect of the state Board of Education, credits the state’s focus on the science of reading for the improvement, from teacher training to new materials and updated English language arts standards.
The science of reading is an approach to teaching literacy that focuses on key components like phonics; phonetic awareness, or sound recognition of letters and words; the accuracy with and speed at which a student can read; vocabulary; and comprehension, or whether students understand what they are reading.
It replaced the “whole language” model, a method that instead focused on memorization of words. Sen. Greg Hembree, an Horry County Republican and chair of the Senate Education Committee, called that approach “educational malpractice.”
“It really was a failure across America, not just in South Carolina,” Hembree said.
Former Education Superintendent Molly Spearman began that transition, and current Superintendent Ellen Weaver — elected in 2022 — fully embraced it.
Mathis and Hembree said part of improving English instruction can be credited to LETRS training, a two-year professional development program designed to help teach reading and writing. Every teacher, from kindergarten through third grade, receives the training.
The state Department of Education also updated its English language arts standards in 2024 and, in turn, new materials aligned with those standards. It was meant to create a “blueprint” for teaching specifically for the skills assessed, Mathis said, and is much clearer than before.
“It took the guesswork out of teaching to the tests,” Mathis said.
“Putting some teeth” in South Carolina’s Read to Succeed Act didn’t hurt either, Hembree said.
The original South Carolina Read to Succeed Act was passed in 2014 with hopes of improving literacy rates.
A decade later, an additional amendment was passed by the Legislature in 2024. Though the law affords a few exceptions for students whose second language is English or those with disabilities, it added a new, stringent provision: if a third-grade student does not meet expectations on reading assessments, they must be held back.
The 2024-25 academic year was the first year it went into effect.
Mathis said that at first, it created some anxiety — districts were concerned. But it turned out not only to be motivating, it also allowed schools to plan for interventions “to get students where they needed to go.”
“Now we’re teaching the right stuff and we’re giving consequences,” said Hembree, who was a sponsor on the bill. It also gave districts some flexibility to retain students earlier to get them on track.
“It’s better to hold back a student in the first grade rather than the third grade,” he said.
The number of third-grade students who will be held back will be determined after mandated summer reading camps have concluded. But preliminary numbers seem to be show that South Carolina is taking an encouraging step in the right direction, supporters say.
“We are on an incredible trajectory,” Weaver said at the June State Board of Education meeting. “I am just so excited to celebrate this progress.”
