South Carolina legislature has passed Proviso 1.76 which mandates the reporting of interim assessments to SCDE so that SCDE can prepare a report for the legislature. The approved
interim assessments are found on the SCDE website: https://ed.sc.gov/tests/adoption-list-of-state-approved-formative-interim-assessments/.

If there are questions, please contact Dan Ralyea Dralyea@ed.sc.gov.

The purpose of this memorandum is to supplement a previous memorandum, Multilingual Learner Enrollment, and to provide additional information regarding common questions received by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE).

For questions regarding multilingual learner (ML) and immigrant student enrollment and age-appropriate placement, contact Susan Murphy at SMurphy@ed.sc.gov. For questions regarding international transcripts, contact Laura McNair at LMcnair@ed.sc.gov. For questions regarding 9GR and accountability, please contact Dan Ralyea at DRalyea@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is pleased to announce the Office of Personalized Learning is joining the Office of Assessment and Standards (OAS). As part of our ongoing commitment to educators of South Carolina, the OAS is providing a variety of supportive opportunities and information. Menus of various professional development offerings that address high-frequency requests from schools and districts are available on the Standards and Assessment Information pages on the SCDE website under the Districts & Schools link. Additionally, a variety of assessment information, data, trainings, and special areas information and resources is also available within our Standards and Assessment Information webpages.

Pursuant to 1A.65.(SDE-EIA: Digital Learning Plan) The implementation of the e-Learning program is the responsibility of the Department of Education. Districts that meet the criteria for an eLearning district as determined by the SCDE may use up to five eLearning days to allow for
the make-up of short-term disruptions to in-person teaching and learning interruptions (e.g.,
power outages, water main breaks).

If you have questions about the use of eLearning days, please contact Tammy Hegler at tthegler@ed.sc.gov or Rebecca Velasquez at rvelasquez@ed.sc.gov. For questions regarding school calendars contact CR Hall at Chall@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) resumed its standard
Medicaid eligibility annual reviews process April 1, 2023. Reviewing Medicaid members’
eligibility at least annually is a federal requirement that was paused during most of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). As SCDHHS continues this process, it is asking SC school districts to further assist the agency in achieving its goal of ensuring people who are eligible for Medicaid remain covered.

If you have questions, please contact Sylvia Tutt, Interim Director, Office of Medicaid Services, at srtutt@ed.sc.gov.

Full implementation and assessment of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 is scheduled for the 2023-2024 school year.

Due to the significant content changes in grades 4 and 6, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is applying for an accountability waiver from the United States Department of Education to allow for a year of field testing. This will allow the SCDE to have enough assessment items aligned to the 2021 standards to create an operational assessment in 2025. If the accountability waiver is granted, the assessment will count for participation only and no scores will be reported in 2024.

Please use this link https://bit.ly/AdminofAE23-24 to complete a survey verifying your adult education director’s areas of certification, assignment status, and salary for the 2023-24 school year. This survey must be completed no later than Friday, July 28, 2023. Your 2023-24 adult education allocation cannot be determined without this information.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) presents this pay scale as a guide to help districts in determining local school bus driver wages for the 2023-2024 school year.

Should you have any questions, please contact me at btindal@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education is seeking flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education for the 2024 SCREADY Science Assessment. About 67% of content of the grade 4 standards is new content. 69% of grade 6 standards is new. A formal item bank alignment revealed the loss of 97% of the general assessment item ban and approximately 50% of the alternate assessment item bank.

Due to the above considerations, it is necessary for South Carolina to administer a census field test to build an item bank that could support the development of general and alternate operational assessment for 2024-2025. To do this, South Carolina needs a waiver from sections llll(b)(2)(B)(v)(ii)(aa) and llll(b)(2)(B)(v)(ii)(bb) of the Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA).

The SCDE asks for public comments to be made in this statewide survey by August 1, 2023.