Seven out of 10 tenth-graders pass HSAP on first try

More than seven out of 10 Darlington County high school students passed the state’s exit exam on their first attempt in spring 2009, according to results released by the State Department of Education.

During their initial attempt last spring, 72 percent of Darlington County School District’s 10th-graders passed both sections of the state’s exit exam, a slight decrease from last year’s average of 78 percent. Of the four high schools, Lamar showed the most impressive gains while Darlington High and Hartsville High averages declined. At Mayo High School for Math, Science & Technology, 100 percent of the students passed both sections of the HSAP on the first attempt.

Darlington County’s scores echo the decline seen across the state. Statewide, 76 percent of 10th-graders passed both sections of the state’s exit exam by scoring at Level 2 or higher on the test’s four achievement levels. That represented a decline from 2008’s average passing rate of 81 percent, the state’s highest rate ever.

State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said data and testing experts at his agency and in local school districts could not account for the sudden decrease after three consecutive years of improvement.

“We’ve been seeing very positive scoring trends, including the highest scores ever just last year,” Rex said. “So these results are not what we expected. But trends are what you look for in student testing, and we’ll have to wait a year and see if this is the beginning of a downward trend or just a random blip.”

“I am very proud Lamar High School and Mayo High School for Math, Science & Technology,” said Dr. Rainey Knight, Darlington County Superintendent. “Lamar High School students have raised their HSAP passing rate by almost 20 percentage points since 2006. Over at Mayo, 100 percent of students passed the HSAP for the fourth year in a row. The staff and students at both schools are to be commended for their hard work. I recognize Hartsville High declined by four points and Darlington High lost nine points. I have spoken to both principals, and I am convinced both schools have good plans in place to address the areas of weakness.”

HSAP serves as both a state-mandated exit exam required for a S.C. high school diploma and a federally mandated testing program to measure high school progress.

Public high school students must pass the English Language Arts and mathematics sections of the HSAP to meet South Carolina’s exit examination requirement for a diploma. Students scoring Level 2 or higher on the HSAP have “Met Standards” as outlined by the State Department of Education and No Child Left Behind. The tests are initially administered in the students’ second year of high school, and students who do not earn passing scores on their first attempts have additional opportunities to retake the test they did not pass.

Only about half of the states require high school students to pass an exit exam, in addition to earning the state-mandated number of course credits, to earn a diploma. South Carolina also requires students to earn 24 high school credits to graduate; some states require as few as 14.

When performance was broken out by subject area, 76 percent of 10th-graders in Darlington County met standards in math in 2009, down from 81 percent in 2008. In English Language Arts, 81 percent of Darlington County students met standards in 2009, down from 86 percent in 2008.

Lamar High School showed gains across the board this year. The number of Lamar High School 10th-graders who passed both sections on the first attempt increased from 76 percent last year to 84 percent this year. In English, the school improved from 82 percent last year to 87 percent this year. Lamar High School 10th graders also showed improvement in math, moving from 80 percent last year to 86 percent this year.

Compared to surrounding school districts, Darlington County School District’s results were higher than that of Florence School District 1, which had a pass rate of 70.3 percent; Dillon 2 (Dillon), 63.9 percent; Sumter 17, 63.7 percent; and Lee County, 57 percent. Darlington County’s results were lower than Chesterfield, 75.6 percent; Kershaw, 75.7 percent; Dillon 1 (Lake View), 86.6 percent; and Dillon 3 (Latta) 89.7 percent.