Press Release

February 11, 2025

Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342

South Carolina Ranked 7th in Math Recovery and 10th in Reading Recovery Between 2019 and 2024

Average student achievement in South Carolina remains over a quarter of a grade level below 2019 levels in math and close to a third of a grade level in reading.  

Still, there are bright spots: mean achievement for students in Lancaster has fully recovered to 2019 levels in both reading and math. And some districts such as Charleston are now scoring above their 2019 means in both reading and math.

(February 11, 2025) In its third year of reporting on the pace of academic recovery measures in districts nationwide, the Education Recovery Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.

The latest report also provides the first high resolution picture of where South Carolina students’ academic recovery stood in Spring 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September. While the National Assessment of Educational Progress described changes in average achievement by state, we combine those scores with district scores on state assessments to describe the change in local communities throughout South Carolina. Here’s what we found:

  • South Carolina ranked 7th among states in terms of recovery in math and 10th in reading between 2019 and 2024.
  • Average student achievement in South Carolina remains over a quarter of a grade level below 2019 levels in math (.28 grade equivalents) and close to a third of a grade level below 2019 levels in reading (.32 grade equivalents). In other words, the loss in math achievement in South Carolina is equivalent to 28 percent of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8.
  • Yet even in South Carolina, 88 percent of students are in districts whose average math and reading achievement in 2024 remained below their own 2019 levels. The average student in some districts, such as Sumter and Berkeley, remains three-quarters of a grade equivalent below their 2019 mean achievement in math.
  • Still, there are bright spots: mean achievement for students in Lancaster has fully recovered to 2019 levels in both reading and math. And some districts such as Charleston are now scoring above their 2019 means in both reading and math.
  • A sharp rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10 percent of a school year) from 13 percent of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 20 percent in 2022 and 22 percent in 2024 is slowing the recovery in many districts in South Carolina.
  • South Carolina received $3.3 billion in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—or roughly $4,200 per student (which is more than the national average of $3,700 per student.) Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.

The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many South Carolina schools.  Even without federal relief dollars, states could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown effective, such as tutoring and summer learning.  State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools to redouble efforts on the shared challenge of reducing student absenteeism.

One of the project leaders, Professor Tom Kane from Harvard, said: “Unless state and local leaders step up now, the achievement losses will be the longest lasting– and most inequitable– legacy of the pandemic.”

For the national press release and findings click here.

About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University 

The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.

Contact: Sam Stockwell, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0342

District Fact Sheets

Statewide Data
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Dorchester 04 - 4500002
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Abbeville 60 - 4500690
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Aiken 01 - 4500720
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Allendale 01 - 4500750
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Anderson 01 - 4500780
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Anderson 02 - 4500810
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Anderson 03 - 4500840
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Anderson 04 - 4500870
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Anderson 05 - 4500900
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Barnwell 45 - 4501080
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Beaufort 01 - 4501110
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Berkeley 01 - 4501170
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Calhoun 01 - 4501250
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Charleston 01 - 4501440
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Cherokee 01 - 4501500
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Chester 01 - 4501530
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Chesterfield 01 - 4501560
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Colleton 01 - 4501830
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Darlington 01 - 4501860
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Dillon 04 - 4501920
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Dillon 03 - 4501950
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Dorchester 02 - 4502010
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Edgefield 01 - 4502070
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Fairfield 01 - 4502100
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Florence 01 - 4502130
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Florence 02 - 4502160
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Florence 03 - 4502190
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Florence 05 - 4502250
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Georgetown 01 - 4502280
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Greenville 01 - 4502310
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Greenwood 50 - 4502340
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Greenwood 51 - 4502370
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Greenwood 52 - 4502400
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Horry 01 - 4502490
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Jasper 01 - 4502520
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Kershaw 01 - 4502550
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Lancaster 01 - 4502580
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Laurens 55 - 4502610
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Laurens 56 - 4502640
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Lee 01 - 4502670
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Lexington 01 - 4502700
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Lexington 02 - 4502730
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Lexington 03 - 4502760
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Lexington 04 - 4502790
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Lexington 05 - 4502820
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Marlboro 01 - 4502970
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Mccormick 01 - 4503000
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Newberry 01 - 4503030
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Oconee 01 - 4503060
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Pickens 01 - 4503330
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Richland 01 - 4503360
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Richland 02 - 4503390
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Saluda 01 - 4503460
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Spartanburg 01 - 4503480
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Spartanburg 02 - 4503510
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Spartanburg 03 - 4503540
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Spartanburg 04 - 4503570
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Spartanburg 05 - 4503600
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Spartanburg 06 - 4503630
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Spartanburg 07 - 4503660
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Union 01 - 4503750
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Williamsburg 01 - 4503780
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York 01 - 4503810
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York 02 - 4503840
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York 03 - 4503870
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York 04 - 4503900
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Sumter 01 - 4503902
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Marion 10 - 4503908
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