Strategic Spartanburg

Goal 1: Our children and youth will excel academically

Any community can, and should, be judged by its efforts to ensure that each generation of its young people improves the quality of life over previous generations. This is the American dream. This goal can only be accomplished through a commitment to education beginning in the home and community before formal schooling in our public and private school systems.

The indicators inform us:
• Scoring school readiness for first grade has been discontinued in favor of a more developmentally-appropriate assessment which provides better information to teachers. This change in no way de-emphasizes the importance of early childhood education as the essential first step in preparing our children for the future.
• Over the past decade, state and federal governments have emphasized benchmarking progress through testing. An area for further study is the finding that on national and state measurements of our students’ achievements, performance levels decrease as they progress into higher grades.
• While progress has been made on retention of our children in school, one quarter of our white students, and one third of our minority students, drop out of school before graduation.
• The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research shows that among the nation’s states, South Carolina ranks 26th in student achievement and 24th in spending efficiency.

Academic Success Indicators
• Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test (PACT) Scores (3rd, 5th & 8th Grades)
• High School Retention Rates
• Gifted & Talented Eligible Students
• Advanced Placement Exams


On the right, you'll be able to explore the indicators under this goal.  You can delve deeper into the priorities and opportunities laid out by the taskforces.  We have also put together various funding resources and possible collaborators that we hope will be of assistance.  And don't forget the Community Spotlight section which shows you a local project working towards one or more of the Community Indicators.