The Instructional Materials Review Panels have finalized their instructional materials recommendations for the 2023 adoption cycle. The student editions of each of the recommended programs will be on display from November 3 through December 4, 2023, at eight review locations across the state and available virtually using publisher-provided links. A report of the Review Panel recommendations with citizen comments from the public review will be submitted to the State Board of Education on December 12, 2023. Upon approval of the panel recommendations, districts and schools will receive notification of the newly adopted materials.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide updated guidance for local education agencies (LEA) and mandatory Title I, Part A Homeless Set Aside (TIPAH) reservations in accordance with §1113(c)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended.

For questions regarding McKinney-Vento, please contact your district’s MV point-of-contact at mckinneyvento@ed.sc.gov.

The Office of Assessment and Standards Science Team is excited to announce locations and dates for the Spring 2024 Science Regional Series. This free, face-to-face professional learning opportunity will be centered around curriculum adaptation for the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 (Science Standards).

For more information about this free professional learning opportunity, please contact C. Lark Widener at clwidener@ed.sc.gov.

Upon release of the School Report Cards, S.C. Code Ann. §59-18-1625 (2002) requires the Department to formally notify the district superintendent, the local school board, and the local delegation of a school’s or district’s status as “underperforming.”

For questions regarding underperforming school or district designations, please reach out to Kimberly Mack, kemack@ed.sc.gov, or Matthew Ferguson, mferguson@ed.sc.gov.

Leadership matters. According to a 2021 Wallace Foundation study, “students learn substantially more in both math and reading in schools with more effective principals.” Principals are also at the heart of setting up systems that support student safety and engagement and teacher growth and retention. Even though principal quality has a direct impact on student and teacher experience, often, principals are left alone to tackle the thorny day-to-day decision-making needed to run a great school. The Office of Educator Effectiveness and Leadership Development (OEELD) is committed to creating spaces for early career principals to collaborate with those that understand the challenge of their role best, other principals.

Contact Lilla Toal Mandsager, lmandsager@ed.sc.gov with questions.

The Office of Educator Effectiveness and Leadership Development is pleased to announce a new cohort of Foundations in School Leadership (FSL) for teacher leaders and coaches beginning January 2024.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) announces that the Request for Proposals
for the 2024–25 Farm to School Subgrant is now available online. Approximately $357,000 in
funding will be distributed on a competitive basis and the deadline to apply is November 15, 2023.

Subgrant contact Donna Davis at 803-734-0800, farm2school@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is pleased to announce the 2023-24 School Garden and Education Assistance Program. The program will be administered by Clemson Extension’s School Gardening for SC Educators. School Gardening for SC Educators is a program offered and facilitated by the Clemson University Extension. By sponsoring the School Gardening for SC Educators program, the SCDE is supporting the capacity of schools and school districts in South Carolina to implement and expand agriculture and nutrition education through school gardening.

For more information about this assistance program, contact Ben Sease at 803-734-8045 or schoolgardens@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education’s, Office of Student Support will host two Virtual Anti-Bullying Youth Forums on October 25, 2023, at 10:30 am–12:00 pm, for middle school classrooms and October 26, 2023, at 10:30 am–12:00 pm, for high school classrooms. This forum will be an interactive experience designed to help students, educators, and other school staff define, recognize, and prevent bullying in their respective schools. During the virtual forum, Dr. Eric Landers will inspire classes of middle and high school students to take a stand against bullying. Dr. Landers has given hundreds of presentations and authored more than a dozen publications regarding bullying.

For more information, contact Chenise Wiley at dcwiley@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-8279 or Kim Smith at kwsmith@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-8113 or Suzanne Snyder ssnyder@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-4033.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) cares deeply about providing care to our educators and students to support their professional and academic journeys. In the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing more from Superintendent Weaver about the SCDE’s CARE (Character and Resilience Education) Project.

Please contact Sarah Gams at ssgams@ed.sc.gov with questions.

The 45-day membership collection will open on October 19, 2023, and close November 7,
2023. The links provided below will update daily. You can submit revised extracts during the
collection period and retrieve corrected reports.

If you have any questions, please email Melanie Cooper at mcooper@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) announces that the Request for Proposals
for the 2024 African American History Instructional Materials Grant is now available online.
Approximately $200,000 in funding will be distributed on a competitive basis and the deadline to apply is November 1, 2023.

For more information about the African American History Instructional Materials Grant contact Stephen Corsini at 803-734-8335, spcorsini@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is announcing the Archibald Rutledge Scholarship Program. This annual program offers twelfth-grade students in South Carolina’s public schools the opportunity to compete for a scholarship valued at approximately $2,000. The purpose of the competition is to encourage and recognize academic and artistic excellence in creative writing, dance, music, theatre, and visual arts.

For additional information, please contact Roger Simpson at rsimpson@ed.sc.gov.