Charleston County School District’s (CCSD) Board of Trustees took a significant step towards improving student outcomes throughout the county on November 7, 2022. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion creating three major academic goals and five “guardrails” to support those goals. The goals and guardrails were developed after months of community engagement and committee meetings led by the Board.

The three goals represent the community’s vision for educating children. Each goal has a set of interim goals. All of the goals have a guiding set of guardrails that represent the community’s values for how the Superintendent and district staff will work towards reaching the goals.

 

"I believe the time has come to where we move from system survival mode and focus on the success of all our students,” said CCSD Board of Trustees Chair Rev. Dr. Eric Mack. “This is truly a game changer - an opportunity to change what's possible in education. The goal and guardrails will help keep and align the strategic plan of improving success for our scholars.”

The goals and their guardrails will be supported by the District’s three “pillars” that uphold the district’s mission of educating and supporting every child in achieving college, career, and citizenship readiness: 1) rigorous grade-level instruction, 2) high-quality teachers and leaders, and 3) wrap-around services.

“The board must set a strategic path for the district to follow - one grounded in a clear understanding of how children are doing and what they and their families want for them,” added CCSD Board of Trustees Vice Chair Courtney Waters. “These goals and guardrails, set in partnership with all stakeholder groups in our system, provide that strategic path. We change what we prioritize. With the newly adopted goals and guardrails as our focus, we are putting resources and energy around what most needs our attention in order to improve outcomes for all students.” 

Ultimately, the Board-approved goals and guardrails, along with the three pillars they are built upon, will guide CCSD towards achieving Vision 2027 – where all students will read on grade level by fifth grade by June of 2027.

“I am very optimistic that the development of the student outcome governance framework will result in significant improvement in student outcomes,” said Superintendent Don Kennedy. “The Board’s efforts will impact the lives of a lot of students now and for many years to come. It was a great honor to labor with The Board on such important work for our young people.” 

GOALS

Each of the following goals have interim goals serving as benchmarks to keep the district on schedule.

Goal 1: Literacy - The percentage of Black/African American and Hispanic 5th grade students reading on grade level will increase from 25.5% in July 2022 to 60.7% in July 2027 as measured by SC READY ELA.

Goal 1: Literacy - Interim Goals

• The percentage of Black/African American/Hispanic third-grade students meeting ELA (English language arts) growth targets will increase from X% in April 2023 to Y% in April 2025 as measured by i-Ready.* 

*The tool to measure these results will be available in April 2023, so the percentage is not yet established.

• The percentage of Black/African-American and Hispanic kindergartners demonstrating “low risk” will increase from 47% in April 2022 to 63.9% in April 2025 as measured by Fastbridge.

• The percentage of Black/African-American and Hispanic Pre-Kindergarten students who score in Tier I on myIGDIs in both rhyming and sound ID will increase from 26.9% in April 2022 to 50.2% in April 2025.

Goal 2: Algebra I Readiness and Achievement - The percentage of all CCSD students enrolled in eighth grade achieving a “C” or higher on the Algebra I End-of-Course exam by the end of eighth grade will increase from 24.9% in May 2022 to 60.3% in May 2027. 

Goal 2: Algebra I Readiness and Achievement - Interim Goals

• The percentage of sixth-grade students that are projected to be ready for Algebra 1 will increase from 49% in April 2022 to 65.2% in April 2025 according to Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).

• The percentage of seventh-grade students that are projected to be ready for Algebra 1 will increase from 40% in April 2022 to 59.1% in April 2025 as measured by MAP. 

• The percentage of all students enrolled in eighth grade who earned a “C” or higher on the Algebra I benchmark will increase from X% in May 2023 to Y% in May 2027.* 

*The measure to record these results will be available in May 2023, so the percentage is not yet established.

Goal 3: College and Career Readiness - The percentage of students in the four-year cohort who graduate college and/or be career-ready will increase from 67.7% in August 2021 to 86.2% in August 2027 as measured by the state’s College and Career Readiness Indicators.

Goal 3: College and Career Readiness - Interim Goals

• The percentage of all high school Pupils in Poverty who score a “C” or higher in AVID will increase from X% to Y% from May 2023 to May 2025.* 

*The measure to record these results will be available in May 2023, so the percentage is not yet established.

• The percentage of Black/African-American and Hispanic 10th graders who score a “C” or higher on the English 2 benchmark will increase from 9.3% to 38.2% from May 2022 to May 2025. 

• The percentage of 11th grade Black/African-American and Hispanic students who are college and/or career-ready will increase from 11.3% in May 2022 to 39.5% in May 2025 as measured by a “C” or higher in 6 hours of dual credit courses and/or a “3” or higher on an AP (Advanced Placement) exam.

GUARDRAILS

The following guardrails, and interim guardrails, serve as a guide to reaching the goals and represent the community’s vision for how the Superintendent will work toward the goals. They also list the values district employees will uphold in reaching their goals.

Guardrail 1: Graduate Skills - The Superintendent shall not allow students to graduate without the soft skills, including literacy proficiency, needed for post-secondary success.

Guardrail 1: Graduate Skills - Interim Guardrails

• The percentage of juniors who earned Microburst certification will increase from 5.4% in April 2022 to 35.5% in April 2025.

• The percentage of high school students who successfully complete a financial literacy course with a “C” or higher prior to graduation will increase from 5% in May 2022 to 35.3% in May 2025.

Guardrail 2: Social Emotional Learning - The Superintendent shall not allow students to go without social-emotional learning.

Guardrail 2: Social Emotional Learning - Interim Guardrails

• The percentage of elementary schools achieving an average of 70% or higher on the SAM/TFI will increase by 15% from the baseline of X% in May 2023 to Y% in May 2027.*

• The percentage of middle schools achieving an average of 70% or higher on the SAM/TFI will increase by 15% from the baseline of X% in May 2023 to Y% in May 2027.* 

• The percentage of high schools achieving an average of 70% or higher on the SAM/TFI will increase by 15% from the baseline of X% in May 2023 to Y% in May 2027.*

*The measure to record these results will be available in May 2023, so the percentage is not yet established.

An additional note about this guardrail - the terms and practices listed above will ensure that social-emotional learning is provided to all students. 

Guardrail 3: Stakeholder Engagement - The Superintendent shall not present major initiatives to the Board without engaging schools (staff, student, parents, and guardians), district, and community stakeholders who are most impacted by the initiative or decision.

Guardrail 3: Stakeholder Engagement - Interim Guardrails

• The percentage of middle and high schools that have a representative student advisory holding three or more meetings per year will grow from less than 5% in May 2022 to 75% by May 2025. Feedback will be provided to the district level through the Superintendent’s Cabinet.

• The number of public-facing stakeholder interactions to solicit feedback on CCSD initiatives and decisions will increase from less than one per year in May 2022 to four per year in May 2025.

• The number of times the Superintendent will solicit feedback from the Board of Trustees to identify "major decisions" to guide quarterly roundtables will increase from zero times a year in May 2022 to four times per year in May 2025.

Guardrail 4: Treatment and Expectations of Students - The superintendent shall not allow disparate treatment of or low expectations for any students.

Guardrail 4: Treatment and Expectations of Students - Interim Guardrails

• The percentage of teachers rated proficient or higher on the Expectations domain of the Classroom Walkthrough Tool will increase from X% in May 2023 to Y% in May 2025.* 

*The measure to record these results will be available in May 2023, so the percentage is not yet established.

• The disproportionality rate of Black/African-American students aged 3-21 identified as students with an emotional disability will decrease from 6.57% in May 2022 to 3.9% in May 2025.

• The percentage of Out-of-School Suspension administrative discipline actions for Black/African-American students will decrease from 23.4% in May 2022 to 16.4% by May 2025.

Guardrail 5: Climate - The Superintendent shall not allow a negative or unsupportive staff culture.

Guardrail 5: Climate - Interim Guardrails

• The district’s percentage of non-teaching, school based staff that respond favorably regarding their perceptions of overall social and learning climate of the school as measured by the School Climate topic on the voluntary Panorama survey will increase from 62% in April 2022 to 72% in May 2027. 

• The district’s percentage of teaching staff that respond favorably regarding their perceptions of overall social and learning climate of the school as measured by the School Climate topic on the voluntary Panorama survey will increase from 53% in April 2022 to 63% in May 2027. 

• The number of times the Superintendent and his/her designee will engage with local teacher advocacy groups for face-to-face conversations regarding staff culture will increase from zero times a year in May 2022 to four times a year in May 2025.

“The work continues for our staff and the incoming Board,” continued Kennedy. “We will closely monitor the progress and evaluate the alignment between the community’s vision (goals for student outcomes) and the results we see in real-time. We will have to be honest in answering three fundamental questions - does the reality match the vision, is there growth towards the vision, and are the strategies and plans leading to growth?”

For more information, contact the Office of Communications at (843) 937-6303.