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Research Agenda

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The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is committed to ensuring that at least 75% of students achieve grade-level proficiency in English language arts and mathematics by 2030. To support this goal, SCDE is conducting research projects to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of existing educational policies, programs, and interventions using rigorous research methodologies.

The agency actively seeks partnerships with universities, research institutions, and other organizations to advance its research objectives. Research conducted in collaboration with SCDE must yield actionable recommendations and present key findings in a manner that enhances stakeholder understanding. SCDE prioritizes projects aligned with the agency’s research agenda.

Research Priorities

  1. Characteristics and Impacts of Evidence-based Instruction (EBI) in Reading
  2. Characteristics and Impacts of EBI in Mathematics
  3. Characteristics and Impacts of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM)
  4. Characteristics and Impacts of Effective Character Education Programs 
  5. Impacts of Attendance and Absenteeism on Student Learning
  6. PK-12 Career Readiness Initiatives and Post-secondary Outcomes
  7. Impacts of State Policies, including: Free to Focus Project, Strategic Compensation, Strategic Talent Acquisition and Retention Taskforce
  8. Characteristics and Impact of Evidence-Based School and System Improvement Initiatives, including Continuous Improvement Process Guide, Analysis of schools with sustained growth in the summative assessment system
  9. Impacts of Educational Technology: Use and academic impacts of state-provided digital content
Click here to submit a research proposal or data request through GovQA.
Researchers seeking data to support their studies are invited to submit research proposals through the following process.
  1. Proposal Submission
    • Researchers must submit their research proposals through GovQA.
    • Proposals should not exceed 1,000 words and must include the research question, methodology, required data, and expected deliverables to the agency.
  2. SCDE Review & Notification
    • The SCDE Research Committee will meet monthly to review submitted proposals.
    • Researchers will be notified of their request status within one week of review.
Approved research projects must include a deliverable provided by the researcher to the agency. The deliverable may take one or more of the following forms:
  1. A one-page summary of key findings,
  2. An interactive dashboard available in Power BI, Tableau Reader or Public, or another data visualization tool,
  3. A 30-minute debriefing with relevant agency leaders, accompanied by a summary of key findings (no more than one page), or
  4. Participation in agency-sponsored research conferences and/or research presentations.
The table below provides research partners with additional insight into the agency's research priorities by presenting a working list of potential questions related to each priority.

Research Priority

Potential Research Questions

Characteristics and Impacts of EBI in Reading
  1. How has LETRS training impacted reading outcomes and growth?  How is an individual student’s achievement and progress impacted after being taught by a teacher who has participated in LETRS training?
  2. To what degree is EBI implemented in the classroom after a teacher participates in LETRS training?  Does the level of implementation change over time as the teacher is further removed from the professional development?  How does the level of implementation impact student achievement and growth?
  3. Which, if any, schools or districts have seen sustained improvement in reading outcomes or growth?  Why?
  4. What strategies have districts and schools used to improve student achievement and progress in reading, and what are the characteristics of those strategies and their implementation?
  5. What strategies have districts and schools used to improve the language acquisition of multilingual learners, and what are the characteristics of those strategies and their implementation?
  6. What relationship, if any, exists between specific measures in the teacher evaluation instrument and student achievement and growth in reading?

Characteristics and Impacts of EBI in Mathematics
  1. Which, if any, schools or districts have seen sustained improvement in mathematics outcomes or growth?  Why?
  2. What are the characteristics of EBI in mathematics?
  3. Which, if any, mathematics curricula have shown sustained impacts on student achievement and growth in mathematics?
  4. What strategies have districts and schools used to improve student achievement and progress in mathematics, and what are the characteristics of those strategies and implementation?
  5. What relationship, if any, exists between specific measures in the teacher evaluation instrument and student achievement and growth in mathematics?

Characteristics and Impacts of HQIM
  1. What are the characteristics of HQIM?
  2. What are the barriers to HQIM implementation, and what are the best practices in HQIM implementation?
  3. What is the current level of implementation of HQIM in South Carolina’s schools?
  4. What are the academic impacts of HQIM implementation in both reading and math?
 

Characteristics and Impacts of Effective Character Education Programs
  1. What are the characteristics of effective character education programs?
  2. What impacts do character education programs have on school climate and discipline?
  3. What impacts do character education programs have on academic achievement and growth?
  4. What impacts do character education programs have on college or career readiness?
  5. Which character education programs have shown sustained impacts on school climate and discipline, academic outcomes and growth, or college and career readiness?
 

Impacts of Attendance and Absenteeism on Student Learning
  1. How has chronic absenteeism impacted COVID-19 academic recovery?
  2. What are the predictors of student absences and chronic absenteeism (CA)?
  3. What, if any, relationship exists between the CA status of students prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and their attendance record since the pandemic? 
  4. What reasons do students provide for absences?  Are there connections between specific absence types and academic performance or CA?
  5. What interventions have proven effective in reducing CA? 
  6. How does chronic absenteeism impact academic performance?

PK-12 Career Readiness Initiatives and Post-secondary Outcomes
  1. What impact does participation in the Individual Graduation Plan process have on high school course enrollment, post-secondary studies, job market participation, career selection, and other post-secondary outcomes?
  2. What impact does successful completion of specific Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses have on students’ post-secondary outcomes?
  3. What relationship exists between a students’ College or Career Readiness (CCR) status (or a specific measure of CCR including but not limited to Work-based Learning, career readiness assessment results, and CTE Completer) and their post-secondary outcomes?
  4. What is the return on investment for specific career readiness programs and practices?

Policy Impacts
  1. What impact has school district consolidation had on school and district expenditures? Opportunities available to students? Academic outcomes and growth?
  2. What impact has the Free to Focus initiative had on student cell phone use and teacher satisfaction with the learning environment?
  3. How has strategic compensation impacted academic outcomes, student growth, and teacher retention?
  4. Of the students choosing to enroll in charter schools: where do these students reside and how is this related to the location of their charter school (if brick and mortar)? What are the characteristics of the students choosing charter schools, and what are the characteristics of students in the same areas who choose the traditional Local Education Agency? 
  5. As charter school enrollment has increased, have resources including FTEs followed students into the charter schools?
  6. Which policy and practice recommendations from the START report have been implemented, and what impact have these policies and practices had on teacher recruitment and retention?

Characteristics and Impact of Evidence-Based School and System Improvement Initiatives
  1. What factors and strategies have the most significant impact on school improvement and what are the specific characteristics of these practices and their implementation?
  2. Which schools and districts have exited an improvement designation and what strategies were most impactful in the improvement?
  3. What specific factors contributed to the success of the schools in the Hope Network during the 2023-24 school year?
  4. Which districts and schools have seen sustained improvements in mathematics and reading outcomes, and how have these districts and schools accomplished the sustained improvements?

Impacts of Education Technology
  1. What impact does educational technology have on parental involvement and support offered to students?
  2. What impact does educational technology have on students’ academic achievement and growth?
  3. To what degree are specific state-provided programs or tools in use in classrooms throughout the state? 
  4. What relationship exists between the usage of state-provided programs or tools and academic outcomes and growth?