South Carolina Students Reach New Heights in Academic Achievement
The South Carolina Surge continues as students achieved their strongest performance ever on SC READY, earning the highest percentage of Meets and Exceeds scores in the assessment's history and moving the state closer to its goal of having 75% of students performing at or above grade level by 2030.
Released today by State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver, the 2025-26 SC READY results show substantial gains in both English language arts (ELA) and math across grades 3-8, marking another year of academic progress for South Carolina students as illustrated in the table below:
| Subject | % Meets/Exceeds 2024 | % Meets/Exceeds 2025 |
% Meets/Exceeds 2026 |
| ELA | 53.5% | 59.6% | 61.3% |
| Math | 42.3% | 43.9% | 47.9% |
Why It Matters:
These results are a testament to what's possible when great teachers have the support they need and students are challenged to reach their full potential. Across South Carolina, educators are helping more students meet and exceed grade-level expectations, and the progress is especially encouraging in student groups that have historically faced the greatest challenges. Some of the state's most remarkable gains came from schools serving students with the highest levels of poverty, reinforcing the belief that a child's circumstances should never define their future.
State Superintendent Weaver visited Meeting Street Elementary – Burns in Charleston to highlight that success. Despite a poverty rate at 89% (nearly 9 out of every 10 students come from low-income households), the school increased the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level by 22 points, with almost 65% of students performing at or above grade level. Third graders improved nearly 29 percentage points in ELA and made significant progress in math. Those results made Meeting Street Elementary – Burns the most improved school in South Carolina in ELA and placed it in the top five for most improved in math, demonstrating what can happen when strong leadership, excellent teaching, and high expectations come together to provide high support for students.
What They’re Saying:
"These results tell a powerful story about what's possible for South Carolina’s future: our students are proving they can compete with anyone, anywhere. But this is the new starting line, not the finish line. Just like a GPS, this data helps us locate ourselves on the map, to celebrate how far we’ve come and to focus our planning for the journey still ahead. I'm deeply grateful to our educators who made this progress possible, and I'm more confident than ever that the South Carolina Surge is real, and our best days are still ahead.
I'm especially proud of the remarkable progress we're seeing in Charleston County and at Meeting Street Elementary – Burns. These results reflect years of hard work and a shared commitment stretching all the way from the Statehouse to the classroom. When everyone shares a vision and pulls in the same direction, our students win." – State Superintendent Ellen Weaver
"The continued gains in South Carolina's SC READY results are a testament to what is possible when educators, families, communities, and business leaders unite around the success of every child. I am especially proud of the remarkable progress made by Meeting Street Schools and the schools of Charleston County School District where students continue to demonstrate that high expectations and exceptional instruction lead to extraordinary outcomes. These results represent our shared commitment to ensuring that every student is prepared to thrive in school, in careers, in service, and in life.” – Charleston County School District Superintendent Anita Huggins
“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Charleston County School District to serve neighborhood students in North Charleston. Together, we’re demonstrating that innovative approaches can deliver extraordinary results for students and help change the landscape of public education in South Carolina. We’re proud of the meaningful progress we’ve made, and we’re just getting started.” – President of Beemok Education Josh Bell
Key Takeaways:
More South Carolina students are reading on grade level since SC READY was first administered in 2015-2016. This is the second year of testing under the new ELA standards and show continued growth:
- 64.2% of 3rd graders statewide are at or above grade level
- 65.5% of 4th graders statewide are at or above grade level
- 63.5% of 5th graders statewide are at or above grade level
Our math momentum is strong. The same proven approach that helped drive historic gains in reading in the first year of testing is accelerating achievement in math through the Palmetto Math Project. By equipping teachers with aligned standards, assessments, high-quality instructional materials, strong professional learning, and evidence-based practices, we are helping more students build the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
- 2025-26 marks South Carolina's strongest year on record in mathematics, with 47.9% of students meeting or exceeding expectations
- Middle school students posted especially encouraging scores led by eighth graders who achieved an 11.8% gain in the number of students scoring at or above expectations
- There are 71 schools where 75% of students are now at or above grade level in math
A link to state, school district, and school level data for SC READY is available at www.ed.sc.gov.
In Focus:
Districts 75% or Higher in ELA
| District | ELA Meets/Exceeds |
| York 4 | 81.3% |
| Anderson 4 | 75.5% |
Top 3 Districts by ELA Growth from 2025 to 2026
| District | Growth |
| Anderson 5 | +5.9% |
| Lexington 3 | +5.5% |
| Bamberg | +5.3% |
Top 3 Districts by Math Growth from 2025 to 2026
| District | Growth |
| Dillon 3 | +8.3% |
| McCormick | +7.9% |
| Berkeley/Laurens 55 | +7.2% |
South Carolina's High-Quality Instructional Toolbox:
English Language Arts (ELA)
- The revised ELA standards implemented in 2024-2025 are more coherent and ensure students in grades K-4 develop foundational skills and content knowledge, and the state’s approved ELA curriculum options (adopted by districts in 2024) align with the updated standards.
- Many districts and schools are also making progress in implementing their ELA and math HQIM with fidelity and focusing on strengthening Tier 1 core instruction for all students.
- LETRS Training: At the conclusion of the 2025-26 school year, 21,602 educators have completed LETRS training, a high-quality professional development course aligned to the Science of Reading.
- Read to Succeed: The 2024–25 school year marked the first full school year with the updated Read to Succeed Act in place, ensuring the implementation of proven strategies that improve literacy outcomes.
Math:
- Math Content Standards: Recently revised to include fewer, more coherent standards that are vertically aligned to build a strong mathematics foundation from grade to grade.
- High-Quality Instructional Material (HQIM) and Coaching:
- In 2025, the Department conducted a rigorous materials’ evaluation process that led to the adoption of high-quality math instructional material with strict, coherent alignment to the recently revised standards.
- In addition to high-quality materials, the Department prioritized collaboration with educators, districts, and state partners with a premium placed on training and deploying math coaches, especially in the state’s most vulnerable districts.
- The Department also partnered with curriculum-based, standards aligned professional learning providers including ZEARN, OGAP, and Modern Classrooms to strengthen mathematics instruction and support classroom implementation.
National Context: The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)
While many organizations publish education “rankings” using subjective methodologies, the “Nation’s Report Card”—NAEP—provides the only consistent apples-to-apples measure of student performance nationwide.
The most recent NAEP release (2024) highlighted troubling national trends: reading scores declining, and math progress flat.
Yet South Carolina stood out as one of the nation’s leading states for growth, a rare bright spot in an otherwise challenging national picture. In fact, when the Urban Institute adjusted all state’s scores to account for poverty, South Carolina’s performance ranked 8th in the nation.
This national context underscores that South Carolina’s progress is not only real but nationally recognized—clear evidence that the state’s reforms are making an impact where many others are still struggling. The 2026 NAEP results are expected to be released in early January 2027.
Find More
State, school district, and school level data for the SC READY assessments can be accessed by clicking here.
The South Carolina Department of Education has also released the 2024-2025 results for the End-of-Course Examination Program (EOCEP) and SC Career Readiness Assessments. While achievement held relatively steady and a significant number of South Carolina students are building the foundational skills necessary for success in college, careers, and life, additional work is needed to achieve the state goal of at least 75% of students meeting the standard for college or career readiness.
EOCEP: End-of-Course Examination Program
The End-of-Course Examination Program (EOCEP) is a statewide assessment program of end-of-course tests for gateway high school courses awarded units of credit in English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. These assessments are critical for ensuring that students are prepared for the academic challenges of college and the demands of the modern workforce.
EOCEP Statewide Summary
| Course | %Passing (A-D) 2024 | %Passing (A-D) 2025 | %Passing (A-D) 2026 |
| Algebra 1 | 72.5% | 73.9% | 64.6*% |
| English 2 | 85.8% | 86.4% | 83.8% |
| Biology 1 | 62.9% | 61.6% | 60.9% |
| U.S. History | 58.8% | 61.5% | 62.6% |
Note: In 2025-26, Geometry with Statistics replaced Algebra 1 as the first course in the high school math sequence in order to better prepare students for success in mathematics. One consequence of this is that students who had already taken Algebra 1 took Geometry with Stats, and students who had not yet taken Algebra 1 also took Geometry with Stats. This led to far fewer students taking Algebra 1 this year than in prior years, but we anticipate this will return to normal participation trends in 2026-27.
SC Career Readiness Assessment
The South Carolina Career Ready Test is administered to all eleventh-grade students to measure the hard and soft skills that employers define as foundational for career readiness. These assessments play a key role in ensuring that students are equipped with the necessary competencies to thrive in the workforce and their future careers.
Career Readiness Assessment Summary
| Assessment | Career Ready (Levels 3-5) 2024 | Career Ready (Levels 3-5) 2025 | Career Ready (Levels 3-5) 2026 |
| Math | 58% | 52% | 54% |
| Data | 69% | 65% | 67% |
| Reading | 71% | 68% | 71% |
Soft Skills Assessment Summary
| Assessment | Career Ready 2024 | Career Ready 2025 | Career Ready 2026 |
| Soft Skills | 69% | 69% | 74% |
View all EOCEP and Career Readiness assessment data by clicking on their respective links.
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