Hampton Co. School District talks improvement in SC Ready scores; Hopes two elementary schools boost district scores

HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Plans to turn around the Hampton County School District are starting to pay off.

State test scores showed gains in some key areas like English.

WTOC has a closer look at what the district is doing to make it happen.

The SC Ready Assessments that we have shone a light on before test students in English/Language Arts, Math, and Science.

For Hampton County over the last four years, since they became their own district, they have seen a nearly 20% improvement in English and a slight improvement in math.

Across the state, all schools are trying to have 75% of their students meet or exceed expectations in each of the categories by 2030.

For Hampton County, 57% of their students met or exceeded expectations in ELA, while 38% reached that mark in math.

Those two scores ranked Hampton County fourth and fifth, respectively, across the 32 Lowcountry counties.

Officials say their ELA scores have improved so much over the years because they started giving teachers high-quality instruction materials and taught their teachers how to use them.

They are now starting to use that same model in another subject.

“We’re trying that same model in math now, without letting go of all the new things we have been doing in ELA, balancing that out, but making sure we are still putting that same emphasis in math,” Hampton County School District Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Kristy Wood, said.

The Hampton County School District also says that the addition of two elementary schools could increase its scores.

Ben Hazel and Varnville Elementary schools each added fourth-grade classes this school year and will start receiving SC Ready report cards.

District officials say these schools are two of their higher-performing schools in the county, but they have not been receiving an SC Ready report card because they didn’t have two grade levels that took the test.

“We know the longer they are in a school, the better relationship they have, and more tailored support will be offered to them,” Wood said.

In a report from U.S. News and World Report, those two schools placed in the top 100 schools statewide out of nearly a thousand public schools.

Ben Hazel ranked 57th, and Varnville ranked 86th.