2011-2012 Palmetto Gold, Silver Awards Announced
March 19, 2012
COLUMBIA, SC – March 19, 2012 – The South Carolina Department ofEducation announced today the recipients of the Palmetto Gold and SilverAwards for the 2011-2012 school year using criteria established by theEducation Oversight Committee.
Last school year, 853 schoolswere recognized for General Performance, Closing the Achievement Gap, orqualifying in both categories. Of the award recipients, 612 schoolswere recognized for General Performance only, 39 were recognized forClosing the Achievement Gap only, and 202 schools were recognized fortheir performance in both General Performance and Closing theAchievement Gap. Schools recognized in both categories could achieveGold in both, Silver in both, or one of each designation. This is thefourth year of closing the achievement gap has been honored as part ofthe Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards program.
For the Gold Awards, 16 schools received one for Closing the AchievementGap while the other 338 were recognized in the General PerformanceCategory. Twenty-three schools were given a Silver Award for Closingthe Achievement Gap while 164 were recognized for General Performance. As qualified by the new criteria, an additional 312 schools received aSilver Award.
The 2011-12 school year marked the first time when three years’ of datafor growth index calculated using PASS test scores was available. Schools qualify for a Silver Award if the school’s absolute performancerating is above “School At Risk” for the most recent year, and itsgrowth index is 92.20 or greater for three consecutive years. A total of312 schools qualify for a Silver award based on this particularcriterion. With the inclusion of this new way to qualify forrecognition, nearly 70 percent of South Carolina schools are givenawards through the Palmetto Gold and Silver Program.
State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais said, “While congratulationsare in order for many schools, it cannot be overlooked the new criteriaadded by the Education Oversight Committee drastically increased thenumber of award recipients. This issue should be corrected by theEducation Oversight Committee so the public is not misled and thoseschools that made real gains in student achievement do not have theirrecognition diminished because of award inflation.”
Established by the Education Accountability Act of 1998, the PalmettoGold and Silver Awards Program gives recognition to schools for highlevels of academic achievement and high rates of improvement. Over halfof this year’s recipient schools have a poverty index of 60 or higher.
The Education Oversight Committee establishes the criteria for theawards, and the State Department of Education then applies thosecriteria to determine which schools are honored. The criteria for awardsfor General Performance are based on both the absolute and growthratings and the growth index found on school report cards.
PDF file containing the list of schools receiving awards sorted by school district.
