Federal Standards: Lexington One's Grade Falls to 'B'

Lexington District One saw its federal accountability grade fall more than 3 points to score a B in 2013.

The district scored 88.9 on the 100-point scale, for a B grade, in 2013. In 2012, Lexington One scored 92.5, or A. The only Columbia-area school district to score better was Lexington-Richland District 5, with a 92.

The grade, posted for each school and district statewide and released by the S.C. Department of Education on Thursday morning, is part of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

State Education Superintendent Mick Zais was granted a waiver to change from the federal Annual Yearly Progress scorecard (Met/Not Met) to a new scoring system that he believed provided more depth to districts and parents.

According to SCDE spokesman Jay Ragley, every district, school (charter, magnet or traditional) and subgroup (race, gender, etc.) was given the same targets for 2013 in reading/language arts and math. And those goals represented an improvement, or increase, over 2012.

Lexington One Superintendent Karen Woodward released these comments on the scores:

"As the (Education Oversight Committee) reminds us, 39 districts, nearly half of the state's schools districts, received a lower letter grade than last year and the state's grade dropped from an 'A' to a 'B' despite student increases in PASS and HSAP scores statewide.

"This district agrees as we saw the same trend in increases in HSAP scores and in PASS English/language arts and writing, and some reductions in achievement gaps. We are proud of these increases and agree with the EOC that there is a need to move to an accountability system that is clearer and more representative of results."

Here are the individual 2013 results for Lexington 1 schools:

OAK GROVE ELEMENTARY A 100.0
MIDWAY ELEMENTARY A 99.9
NEW PROVIDENCE ELEMENTARY A 99.1
LAKE MURRAY ELEMENTARY A 99.0
PLEASANT HILL MIDDLE A 94.0
MEADOW GLEN ELEMENTARY A 93.4
FORTS POND ELEMENTARY A 93.2
PELION ELEMENTARY A 93.1
LEXINGTON MIDDLE A 90.9
CAROLINA SPRINGS ELEMENTARY B 88.2
MEADOW GLEN MIDDLE B 87.5
SAXE GOTHA ELEMENTARY B 87.3
LEXINGTON HIGH B 87.2
WHITE KNOLL HIGH B 86.6
LEXINGTON ELEMENTARY B 86.2
ROCKY CREEK ELEMENTARY B 85.8
GILBERT ELEMENTARY B 84.6
PLEASANT HILL ELEMENTARY B 83.9
CAROLINA SPRINGS MIDDLE B 80.0
PELION HIGH C 79.5
GILBERT HIGH C 79.1
WHITE KNOLL ELEMENTARY C 78.9
WHITE KNOLL MIDDLE C 77.5
GILBERT MIDDLE D 69.7
RED BANK ELEMENTARY D 68.6
PELION MIDDLE F 58.5

Also on Thursday, the state released figures on high school exit exams and PASS testing.

More than 90 percent of the 1,731 Lexington 1 students who took the exit exam for the first time passed. 

Here are Lexington 1 schools, the number who took the test for the first time and the percent who passed:

Gilbert High School 250 88.8
Lexington High School 820 94.6
Pelion High School 187 80.7
White Knoll High School 474 88.4