[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6342439,"mediaKeyId","2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea","parentId",2255066,"title","EOC review finds mixed effects from Rural Recruitment Initiative; members urge stronger evaluation and oversight","audioSeconds",3130,"startMs",3608000,"endMs",6738000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea&start=3608&end=6738","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea/thumbnail_3608000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6342439/South-Carolina/EOC-review-finds-mixed-effects-from-Rural-Recruitment-Initiative-members-urge-stronger-evaluation-and-oversight","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6342439-4bac14ecf219e95c1e41ad5484af74cd/orig.mp4?Expires=1771115546&Signature=Z0OzA5mMWVGiurf7S~hUGEKpRwYdpdDyJtpw5L5YO07t0ZY~DR175jRGvsGWOGrK-2PLb46mgL57iySxm1plX8uX2WXOU3z6pQ-GaoOo-ZFhk7S94oOHe9eU9JXGb5chiLFD3PPxlAeZewMHLXwyPM6yCodK9gHiv1Hkp-2derG1vySuffO~zEBBUg~980uYkCuGUKwi92XF86edO3sqaRHI6rLLngMytXYSpIzZNR2bMQrsBEOMqhZcMHRerW3SufVKNvjKyHmGKqDPNwTOtCPaz3bFReAU~qj~WRjsxyNdHjigtCQ0NELCrKSXV4vNtMQ1qXbFlz59q4gQgFxqCQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","South Carolina Legislature","date","2025-02-10T00:00:00Z","article","The Education Oversight Committee reviewed the Rural Recruitment Initiative (RRI) report, which examined how districts have used funds intended to recruit and retain teachers in higher-turnover, lower-wealth districts.

Presenter Dr. Knight summarized program history, eligibility rules and spending patterns, and noted EIA provided about $7.5 million for the initiative in the current cycle. The report found districts most frequently used RRI funds for recruitment expenses, alternative-certification pathways and mentoring/induction; the largest single expense category in 2023–24 was funding international teachers, which the report showed totalled more than $2 million over the recent reporting period.

Dr. Knight said districts vary widely in how they use funds and in the degree of administrative continuity available to plan and track outcomes. The report’s recommendations — endorsed by EOC staff for additional study — included expanding evaluation of incentive effectiveness, convening state partners (SC Teacher data team, State Department of Education, EOC staff and districts) for collaborative analysis, and taking time to align data sets to measure short-term and long-term returns on investment.

Committee members voiced concern that the initiative has run for years without clear evidence of impact. Representative Alexander and others asked whether a restriction on using RRI funds to hire international teachers would be appropriate; those questions prompted staff to recommend more precise analyses before limiting eligible uses. Concerns raised by members included over-reliance on international recruitment in some districts, variable mentoring models, the need to expand incentive eligibility (to include counselors, nurses and other critical positions), and leadership turnover in districts that hampers multiyear planning.

Dr. Knight told members the EOC requested additional data runs from the state teacher data system (SC Teacher) and planned to reconvene with the department and districts to examine which incentives produce measurable improvements in retention and student outcomes.

No formal policy change was adopted; several members said they expect the committee to revisit the RRI after staff can match incentives to retention outcomes and report back to the committee.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle"," SC Education Oversight Full Committee Monday, February 10, 2025 1:00 pm","oneSentenceSummary","EOC staff told the committee that districts used Rural Recruitment Initiative funds for recruitment fairs, alternative-certification programs, mentoring and, in some districts, international teacher placements, and urged additional evaluation to measure which incentives improve retention.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature SC, South Carolina","taxId",78560,"location","South Carolina","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6342444,"EOC presents 2025 annual report highlights to committee, flags chronic absenteeism and CCR gap",352,2079000,2431000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea&start=2079&end=2431","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea/thumbnail_2079000.jpg","/articles/6342444/South-Carolina/EOC-presents-2025-annual-report-highlights-to-committee-flags-chronic-absenteeism-and-CCR-gap","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6342444-b56b4283eee2719b67db3872cf90b2b6/orig.mp4?Expires=1771115546&Signature=Zy8jutkx~65iyN5S06s7CaNIC7SD-LACc6gi38QxCaGRSRJPkUwxwvxlDTc84M7nxZYMeWIzFaKbfOMDtLI9RvvAA3fdGgpVk0DPAGQ5B8TuXib6n2YnlXjRtWa0yR6thMRqXGjjP0GBOsrBzkMFYQcDXhwUcKzVXjeMW1nsx3tjUDT5XhKqQaH5Mg-dIsP~LAezNqEcETxiiNCo-xfKn0vSFNwN8a4AM6-bEO7Gb78yQUQltORkaeR-LZdMD9~Yjoe0QCrQfoyepbhQbSdeIYUb~hobaMd~rREvbgiPHUE1ak3NZG6j~1JCH09fS-bWsVKrY~gtJwsEoLrsWvAAAw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","EOC staff provided an overview of the committee’s 2025 annual report, required to be delivered to the General Assembly by March 1. The presentation summarized data updates, reporting tools and program evaluations the committee carried out between March 2024 and February 2025.

Assistant staff member (Miss Felder) told the committee the report is organized by three strategic goals—reporting facts, measuring change and promoting progress—and includes the department’s report-card simulator, National Student Clearinghouse data integration, and summaries of several program-level reviews (teacher loan repayment, Education Scholarship Trust Fund, rural recruitment initiatives and others).

The annual report highlights a statewide on-time graduation rate of 85.4 percent but noted a notable discrepancy between that graduation rate and the percentage of graduates who meet college-and-career-readiness (CCR) measures: roughly 30 percent statewide. The committee stressed closing that gap as a policy priority.

Felder and other staff also flagged chronic absenteeism: during the 2022–23 school year, about one in five South Carolina students was chronically absent. The report summarized data that chronically absent students were less likely to meet grade-level standards—23 percent of chronically absent students met or exceeded math standards, compared with 47 percent of non-chronically-absent students.

EOC members were briefed that 2024 was the first year the High School Student Success Indicator Rating (which counts credit accrual toward graduation within four years or successful outcomes within five years) factored into high-school report-card ratings. The report also summarizes the EOC’s cyclical review of accountability plans and the Data Trailblazer award winners, whose presentations the committee used as examples of local practices tied to improved attendance and outcomes.

Committee members asked staff to confirm details and noted the report will be finalized for delivery to the General Assembly by the March 1 statutory deadline; staff asked members to submit any edits promptly.","EOC staff summarized the 2025 annual report for the General Assembly, noting a continued high statewide graduation rate (85.4 percent), a persistent gap between graduation and college-and-career-readiness (about 30 percent CCR), and chronic absenteeism affecting achievement metrics.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6342449,"Spring Hill High credits intensive data culture, weekly monitoring for high graduation and CCR rates",146,1773000,1919000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea&start=1773&end=1919","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea/thumbnail_1773000.jpg","/articles/6342449/South-Carolina/Spring-Hill-High-credits-intensive-data-culture-weekly-monitoring-for-high-graduation-and-CCR-rates","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6342449-e65300ad276250c24ae2d3dab899a3e8/orig.mp4?Expires=1771115546&Signature=Tj9O8o6-lqAHuBaZiMtUXGCvmPjYepDrcMEEfVTzjNuEqRPt~MUPkx1-28K5zaNQBYT3NMhKpBtWi4YWHh65orW-vsPyCrVgJhDtlepZ3aiWguGycvB1JWjHgY8j2ePhw57kFAxHTYjylWmzsROcJ1fTSwNIeiic52PpDIS7-~UApOnLUi818HFIt3V7Iux9y7AoJ-l8RLr4IJN3QpDiW5YujcjNwHDR9glYoh~yoSznGGiMq7IpN5kzI0qHWzplYX0Q6rpREwWjIHr0vriQkmm5hQayJp-tHaSy8ViSzCeEEcdXs3QluReghlFQUqRn6BwyTEGjb-ToKO9RMQtI3A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Spring Hill High School Principal Michael Lofton told the Education Oversight Committee that the Lexington-Richland School District 5 magnet school builds daily practice around data and regular adult oversight to support student outcomes.

Lofton said Spring Hill, an open-enrollment magnet that caps incoming ninth-grade classes and fills seats by lottery, does not use test scores, discipline records or prior paperwork to admit students; “all we look at is that you live in Lexington Richland School District 5,” he said. He described a set of schoolwide systems — weekly department meetings, four formal classroom observations per teacher each year, “celebratory” magnet lessons, and structured student success conferences — that he said let teachers and counselors intervene early.

The approach is meant to identify at-risk students well before senior year. Lofton said counselors begin Individual Graduation Plans (IGPs) in eighth grade; last year Spring Hill recorded a 97.15 percent on-time graduation rate and reported that 94 percent of seniors were college- and career-ready by the end of the year.

Lofton told the committee that administrators maintain weekly monitoring of grade books and run tiered triage meetings: failure lists are reviewed weekly, small-group triage biweekly and large-group triage monthly. Students failing classes are assigned mandatory academic assistance and interventions such as Saturday school or after-school remediation, he said.

Lofton also described Spring Hill’s structure: five career-focused pathways (engineering, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environmental science and exercise science), open enrollment by lottery for district residents, no school-sponsored athletics (students play sports at their zoned schools), and district-provided transportation. He said the student body includes a range of socioeconomic and special-education needs — he cited roughly one-third of students living in poverty and about 29 percent with an IEP or 504 accommodation — and that the school deliberately avoids selective admissions.

Committee members asked how the district arranged shared shuttle transportation and whether Spring Hill’s model could be exported. Representative Collins asked about transportation; Lofton explained that the school piggybacks on the district’s career-center shuttle model and staggers start and dismissal times to allow zoned buses to feed Spring Hill. Committee members praised the school’s counseling and mentoring emphasis and its teacher retention: Lofton said many faculty have long tenures and the school has teachers ranked nationally on lists cited in public sources he referenced.

Lofton closed by inviting legislators to visit the school and said Spring Hill welcomes observers to see classroom lessons and its “Spring Hill Way” expectations for students and families.

The committee acknowledged the presentation and moved on to additional agenda items.","Spring Hill High School principal Dr. Michael Lofton described the school’s data-driven practices — frequent classroom observations, weekly grade-book monitoring, early Individual Graduation Plans beginning in eighth grade, and targeted triage — as factors behind its strong graduation and college- and career-readiness results.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6342434,"EOC staff begins cyclical accountability review; NAEP 2024 shows mixed national results, modest state gains in fourth-grade math",442,6759000,7201000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea&start=6759&end=7201","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2255066-70cf3fbfef4d6d334e331325f0bf8bea/thumbnail_6759000.jpg","/articles/6342434/South-Carolina/EOC-staff-begins-cyclical-accountability-review-NAEP-2024-shows-mixed-national-results-modest-state-gains-in-fourth-grade-math","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6342434-d4e2e1caab4f6bc3519d25466416a868/orig.mp4?Expires=1771115546&Signature=IvCeZUJg3FvBsREkiMvyNPke7GqZLgL0Rof0lgGp0m76hyjtOFFS4ju006-K5k-hzg-fNa3WoKrjWFfDyWIn43F5NYRj34~9zMb4j4RGi5J~yzUGuTI99Vo~DyZjc7N6lQqXuNE4fDY~jh31y8YEGzZTV47EUPtxVbHqfdInVtSbxZ97n41M2OJ71zJLUohxh2gjwQEXLXluR~7x~GIiGsZnKlbKYCpyP8n9MTbA06lqsZDwv4-pcFdHn06RAF129laKd9CUONS3qV4Ppd7w4xzj6c8AdByULa5FwQZFxpR~PpnHyEBjWbwTu0FikFGfb-fY9XDwpizJT2TJEYj57w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","EOC executive staff presented the timetable and scope for the statutory five-year cyclical review of South Carolina’s accountability system and summarized national assessment results from NAEP 2024.

Miss Hale, executive director, said the law (cited in discussion) requires stakeholder engagement and sets a timeline for recommendations to the General Assembly. The staff will convene a State Accountability Advisory Committee, conduct regional listening sessions (remote) in March–April, run focused convenings on topics identified by stakeholders, and work with the Center for Assessment to survey public expectations and host three in-person advisory meetings before producing a capstone report later in the year.

Hale said planned focus areas include the high-school experience (measures of college- and career-readiness), career-and-technical education report cards, primary-school report cards, and multilingual-learner measures. Staff urged members to submit nominations for advisory and focus groups and noted the report must be completed prior to legislative consideration of accountability changes.

Separately, the director reviewed the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024 results. Hale said nationally the percentage of eighth graders reading below NAEP Basic reached a high point in NAEP history and fourth-grade reading performance was the lowest in two decades; however, fourth-grade math saw a modest two-point gain nationally. South Carolina matched the modest fourth-grade math gains and outperformed the national average by one point in fourth-grade reading; eighth-grade results were generally flat for the state. Hale said the NAEP also included a self-reported student-absence question showing small improvements in days absent for eighth graders compared with 2022 but not a full return to pre-pandemic levels.

Committee members asked procedural questions about advisory nominations and survey work; staff reiterated the statutory deadlines and the need for robust stakeholder participation.","Staff described the cyclical five-year review of the state accountability system required by statute, outlined public listening session plans, and summarized NAEP 2024 results: national declines in reading, small national gains in fourth-grade math and South Carolina matching or modestly exceeding some national trends.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

EOC review finds mixed effects from Rural Recruitment Initiative; members urge stronger evaluation and oversight

EOC presents 2025 annual report highlights to committee, flags chronic absenteeism and CCR gap

Spring Hill High credits intensive data culture, weekly monitoring for high graduation and CCR rates

EOC staff begins cyclical accountability review; NAEP 2024 shows mixed national results, modest state gains in fourth-grade math