Horry County students’ test scores improve

Horry County students’ test scores for the South Carolina Palmetto Assessment of State Standards have increased, according to data released in late October.

The SCPASS test is taken by school-age children from grades four through eight and covers social studies and science based on the topics learned in each grade level.

Average scores

The scores also are broken down by the percentage that met expectations for their respective grade levels, those that did not meet expectation and those that exceeded expectations.

The range of scores that classify as meeting, not meeting and exceeding expectations vary by grade level, but the average score for all Horry County students in social studies and science met expectations.

The average science score for all grade levels in Horry County in 2015 was 635.7, and it increased to 642.3 in 2016. The statewide average was 627.6.

The average Horry County social studies score was 651.4 in 2015 and increased to 654.1 in 2016. The statewide average is 639.2.

Did not meet expectations

In 2015, 20.36 percent of all students that took the social studies test did not meet expectations, and that number dropped to 20.12 percent in 2016.

In 2015, 26.72 percent of students did not meet expectations in the science test and that percentage decreased to 25.2 percent in 2016.

Exemplary

In 2015, 28.1 percent of students’ science scores were classified as “exemplary,” meaning the students “demonstrated exemplary performance in meeting the grade level standard,” according to the SC PASS Score Report User’s Guide. That number increased to 33.26 percent in 2016.

In the social studies category, 43.4 percent of scores were exemplary in 2015, and 44.28 percent were categorized that way in 2016.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Horry County students’ test scores improve."