The South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Assessments (SC READY) program is a statewide assessment in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics administered to students in grades 3–8. For 2021–22, the South Carolina Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (SCPASS) is a statewide assessment in science administered to students in grades four and six.
The initial administration of SC READY was in spring 2016. The initial administration of SCPASS was spring 2009. As originally developed, SCPASS was a statewide science and social studies assessment. For the 2019–20 school year, Proviso 1.94 of the 2019–20 General Appropriations Bill suspended testing of grade 8 science and grades 5 and 7 social studies. That arrangement remains in effect for the 2021–22 school year.
All students are required to participate in SC READY (in grades 3–8) and SCPASS (only in grades 4 and 6 this year). These participation requirements do not include those students who qualify to participate in Alternate Assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Each SC READY and SCPASS test is designed to be administered on a separate day (ELA Session 1, ELA Session 2, mathematics, and science). For both online and paper testing, these tests may be administered in any order determined by the district. In grades 6–8, the mathematics test has two sections. There is a “calculator” section, followed by a “no calculator” section. These sections must be given in that order, which is the order they are presented in test booklets and online. The entire mathematics test (including both sections) is designed to be administered in a single day.
The Education Accountability Act (EAA) requires online testing for grades three through eight on SC READY and SCPASS. However, a legislative proviso allows districts or individual public charter schools to request a waiver to test on paper. In addition, paper-based testing is available for students with disabilities who cannot take online assessments due to their disabilities as specified in their IEP or 504 plans, and for multilingual learners (MLs) if specified in their Individualized Language Acquisition Plan (ILAP) (formerly known as an EL Accommodation Plan).
The EAA also requires SC READY and SCPASS tests to be administered during the last twenty days of each district’s instructional calendar, unless the district requested and received a waiver for a longer testing window.
The South Carolina “Read to Succeed” Act specifies that a student must be retained in the third grade if the student fails to demonstrate reading proficiency at the end of third grade (though there are “good cause” exemptions). For purposes of the legislation, reading proficiency in grade 3 is assessed based on those portions of the SC READY ELA test that directly assess the state’s reading standards (i.e., items assessing “Reading–Literary Text” and “Reading–Informational Text”).
