BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood High School students outscored both the Richland Two district average and the state average in a key assessment that counts as 20 percent of a student’s final grade in core subjects in statewide results.
Westwood High School, however, experienced a setback in the same assessment, mirroring a similar slide in statewide results.
Those core subjects of testing consist of Algebra 1, Biology 1, English 1 and U.S. History and the Constitution. Students must pass each course at some point before they are awarded a high school diploma.
Blythewood High’s Scores
Blythewood exceeded state and district average mean scores in all four core subjects tested in the 2018 End-of-Course Examination Program (EOCEP). The school also exceeded the state and district in the percentage of A’s scored in three of the four subject areas – Biology 1, English 1 and U.S. History and Constitution.
While the 2.6 percent of BHS students scoring an A in Algebra 1 fell short when compared to the district (10.6 percent) and to the state (9.1 percent), the school’s scores in Algebra 1 showed improvement from 1.9 percent in 2017 to 2.6 in 2018.
Considerable improvement was seen in English 1, from 16.4 percent scoring an A in 2017 to 27.7 percent in 2018.
Percentage of BHS students scoring an A in Biology 1 dropped from 34.6 percent (2017) to 26.5 percent (2018) and in U.S. History and Constitution from 20.7 (2017) to 18.3 (2018).
The percentage of Blythewood High School students scoring an F remained well below both state and district percentages. Only 9.2 percent of BHS test takers scored an F in English 1, down from 11 percent in 2017. Percentages also improved in U.S. History and Constitution from 22.1 scoring an F in 2017 down to 17.7 in 2018.
More than one-quarter (28.5 percent) of BHS test takers scored an F in Algebra 1, up from 22.2 percent in 2017, and almost one-third (30.3) scored an F in Biology 1, almost doubling the percentage of 17.8 percent that scored an F in 2017.
The mean scores of BHS students taking the EOCEP in 2018 exceeded the mean scores for both the district and the state in three out of the four subjects, falling behind only in Algebra 1.
BHS students also saw gains over their 2017 mean test scores in English and U.S. History and Consitution, but declines in Algebra 1 and Biology 1.
- Algebra 1 – 67.5 (2017) to 66.9 (2018), down 0.6
- Biology 1 – 78.4 (2017) to 73.1 (2018), down 5.3
- English 1 – 76.2 (2017) to 79.6. (2018), up 3.4
- U.S. History and Constitution – 73.7 (2017) to 74.7 (2018), up 1
Westwood High’s Scores
Westwood High School test takers fell behind both the district and the state in all four of the tested subjects but improved their percentages for scoring an A over last year in both Algebra 1 and English 1.
Students performed best on the English 1 exam, improving the percentage of A scores considerably from 3.2 percent (2017) to 12.6 percent in (2018). Improvement was also seen in those scoring an A in Algebra 1 from 0.4 percent (2017) to 1.1 percent (2018).
WHS students struggled in Biology 1, going from 14.4 percent scoring an A in 2017 to only 2.2 percent scoring an A in 2018. Percentages scoring an A in U.S. History and Constitution stayed about the same, going from 3.6 percent (2017) to 3.5 percent (2018).
Those WHS students scoring an F in Algebra 1 increased from 30.3 percent (2017) to 43.2 percent (2018) and in Biology 1 from 38.7 percent (2017) to 51.6 percent (2018).
However, fewer WHS test takers scored an F in English 1, improving from 37.3 percent (2017) to 25.9 (2018) and in U. S. History and Constitution, improving from 49.1 percent (2017) to 38.6 (2018).
While school’s mean scale score lagged behind both district and state scores, the greatest decline was in Biology 1 (down 7 points) and the most improvement in English 1 (up 6.3 points).
- Algebra 1—63.3 (2017) to 62.9 (2018), down 0.4 points
- Biology 1—66.8 (2017) to 59.8 (2018), down 7.0 points
- English 1—65.2 (2017) to 71.5 (2018), up 6.3 points
- U.S. History and Constitution—61.6 (2017) to 63.5 (2018), up 1.9 points
Ready to Work
Ready to Work (R2W) is a career readiness assessment administered to all eleventh grade students to determine student achievement in three key subjects – Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information and Locating Information.
Blythewood High
Blythewood High School R2W test takers outperformed the state averages in all three key subjects
- Applied Mathematics—State average 241, BHS – 245
- Reading for Information—State average 247, BHS – 251
- Locating Information—State average 230, BHS – 231
The test awards certificates, which are associated with career professions, beginning with bronze and peaking with platinum.
Nearly 91 percent of 487 Blythewood students earned certificates, meaning 9.2 percent didn’t score high enough to earn certificates.
Bronze Level certificates were earned by 19.1 percent of test takers, meaning they’re ready for 35 percent of jobs in the workforce. Bronze level sample professions include construction laborer, electrician assistant, cement mason and dental hygienist.
Another 60.2 percent earned Silver Level certificates, which means they’re ready for 65 percent of jobs, including insulation installer, roofer, chef, pipe layer, flight attendant or machinist.
Gold Level certificates were earned by 7.8 percent of students. This level includes credit analysts, aircraft mechanics, medical transcriptionists, acute care nurses and social workers.
Platinum Level certificates were earned by 3.7 percent of BHS test takers, which includes architects, chemists, geographers, anesthesiologists and agricultural engineers.
Westwood High
Westwood High School test takers lagged behind the state averages in all three R2W key subjects
- Applied Mathematics—State average 241, BHS – 238
- Reading for Information—State average 247, BHS – 245
- Locating Information—State average 230, BHS – 229
Nearly 81 percent of 298 Westwood students earned certificates, versus 19.1 percent who didn’t. One-quarter (24.8 percent) earned Bronze certificates and exactly half (50 percent) earned Silver certificates. Five percent earned Gold certificates, while 1 percent earned a Platinum certificate.
