Dana Yao, executive director of the Education Oversight Committee, told the House Education and Public Works Committee that South Carolina’s on-time high school graduation rate for the class of 2024 was 85.4 percent and described the EOC’s role overseeing academic standards, statewide assessments and annual school report cards.

Yao said the EOC produces an education data dashboard (dashboardsc.sc.gov) the committee and the public can use to compare spending and performance, and that the panel evaluates state-funded programs such as full-day 4K and the Educational Improvement Act (EIA) investments. “We approve the content standards and the statewide assessments for the big four — English language arts, math, science and social studies,” Yao said.

The committee heard that the EOC is tracking college- and career-readiness and student outcomes. Yao displayed a chart she said showed college- and career-ready indicators and noted chronic absenteeism as a growing concern: she said roughly 23 percent of students were chronically absent in 2022–23, defined as missing about 10 percent of the school year.

The EOC has evaluated a rural recruitment initiative funded with $7,600,000 in EIA funds; Yao said districts can select from about 15 incentive options including housing assistance, mentoring, recruitment fairs and support for international hires. She said the EOC is assessing return on investment and teacher retention within the first five years in rural districts.

Committee members pressed for more detail on readiness metrics and retention. Representative Bradley asked whether only about 30 percent of graduates are “college and career ready.” Yao and other committee staff explained that readiness is measured by multiple indicators — ACT/SAT scores, dual-credit and AP participation, industry certifications and career-readiness assessments — and that comparisons require care because different measures apply to “college ready” versus “career ready.”

Yao also described the EOC’s cyclical review of the accountability system this year and offered to share the committee’s annual EIA recommendations and the full dashboard with members. She said the EOC operates with a small staff — she identified eight FTEs — and that members and staff are available for follow-up and deeper briefings on specific topics.

The committee chair encouraged members to use the dashboard and to follow up with Yao for district-level data and the EOC’s forthcoming study work, including additional analyses of absenteeism and the rural recruitment evaluation.