South Carolina
South Carolina is one of the three sites included in the study. The state has 30 institutions that certify elementary teachers, with approximately 2100 students obtaining certification each year. The sixteen institutions certifying the largest number of elementary teachers are listed below, awarding approximately 86% of the new certificates in the state in 2004-5. South Carolina has recently turned attention and resources to the improvement of teacher quality, and is now one of the leading states in rankings of efforts to improve K-12 teaching.
| School |
# Certified
2004-5 |
| Clemson University |
308 |
| USC-Columbia |
227 |
| College of Charleston |
224 |
| Winthrop University |
162 |
| USC-Spartanburg |
147 |
| Converse College |
119 |
| Coastal Carolina University |
99 |
| Bob Jones University |
98 |
| South Carolina State University |
96 |
| USC-Aiken |
87 |
Francis Marion University
|
67 |
|
65 |
|
44 |
Southern Wesleyan University
|
42 |
|
41 |
|
41 |
| Total |
1867 |
NAEP Scores
In recent years, South Carolina has seen a marked improvement in NAEP mathematics scores at both the 4th and 8th grade levels. Their average scores (238 and 281 respectively) are at the US average, having increased from below average as recently as 2000.
Quality Counts 2006 Report
In the Quality Counts 2006 study, South Carolina rates very high in "Standards and accountability" and in "Efforts to improve teacher quality." On the latter, SC ranked second in the nation. SC "grades" on the four scales are:
- Standards and accountability: A
- Efforts to improve teacher quality: A
- School climate: C+
- Resource equity: C
The "efforts to improve teacher quality scale" includes measures of Teacher education and qualifications; teacher assessment; professional support and training; and accountability for teacher quality. SC has recently implemented NCATE-based standards for all teacher education programs and has started efforts to train and support programs as they address NCATE standards.
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