South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

The unified voice of business

2020 Education Goals

Raising the Bar

South Carolina has many education and workforce development successes to be commended, but we cannot rest on our laurels. Much work still needs to be done, and our competition is not standing still. The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s Excellence in Education Council has developed 10 overarching Education Goals that it believes should be met or exceeded by 2020.

We know the achievement of these goals will require many sub-goals and the continued concerted action between business and education. Get involved—we are making a difference!

    1. 99% of all high school students will have electronic Individual Graduation Plans (eIGP). This is a key component of the EEDA that has both a direct and indirect influence on the dropout rate by getting students committed to a plan for graduation and involving parents during a critical time.
    2. 85% of all South Carolina high school students will graduate on-time as measured by the US Dept. of Education’s Uniform Graduation Rate formula.
    3. 80% of South Carolina four-year-old, at-risk youth (free and reduced lunch) will complete 4-K. All South Carolina children need to be ready for 1st grade. Research shows that high-quality pre-school helps children’s cognitive growth and enhances their future educational success—especially children from disadvantaged circumstances.
    4. South Carolina will be in the top five states in average 4th and 8th grade student NAEP score improvement. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments for reading, math and science are administered uniformly using the same sets of test booklets across the nation. The assessment stays essentially the same from year to year. This permits NAEP to provide a clear picture of student academic progress over time. By becoming one of the fastest- improving states, we will earn national and international recognition that will help drive our economic viability.
    5. 50% reduction of the student achievement gap on PASS testing from 2009 results. The achievement gap is defined as the difference in achievement between the historically lower-scoring demographic group and the historically higher-scoring group at various performance levels. The expectation is that all groups will continue to improve, but the lower group’s rate of improvement will exceed the higher group’s rate thereby closing the achievement gap.
    6. All high school seniors will have a WorkKeys (including soft skills) certificate. WorkKeys certification (including soft skills) accompanied by a high school diploma or GED provides important information to employers about the skill level and job readiness of a student. Because of the immediate need for this certification and its sparse current availability in our high schools, the interim 2015 goal of at least 65% of the seniors completing the testing should be achieved.
    7. 15,000 GEDs (including WorkKeys certification) will be awarded annually.
    8. South Carolina will have 10 times more businesses offering registered apprenticeships versus the 2009 baseline. South Carolina has historically underutilized registered apprenticeships as a workforce education and training model and has traditionally had fewer than 800 active apprentices in less than 90 registered apprenticeship programs. Since the 2007 establishment of the SC Technical College’s Apprenticeship Carolina™ division, significant progress has been made.
    9. South Carolina will exceed the national average for adults holding two or four year degrees.
    10. South Carolina will have a clear, coherent standardized pathway for adults to further their education. A system of stackable certificates will change the dynamics of learning for adults, encouraging more to enhance their education.

       


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      The South Carolina Chamber would like to thank the following: