Award-winning South Carolina Schools Participate in Palmetto Gold/Silver Showcase
August 20, 2008
COLUMBIA, SC – August 20, 2008 – Forty-nine award winning Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver schools are sharing their success stories with others through the South Carolina Department of Education’s 2007 Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards Showcase.
These schools received their awards earlier this year. Initiated four years ago, Showcase is part of the Palmetto Gold and Silver program created by the Education Accountability Act to recognize and reward academic achievement.
About one-fourth of the state’s 1,100 schools receive either a Gold or Silver award each year. Awards criteria are set by the Education Oversight Committee and are based on absolute and improvement ratings on the school report card.
Schools featured in the Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards Showcase provide one-page summaries describing programs or topics that they believe directly impact student achievement. Their summaries offer good tips and practical ideas on various issues ranging from instructional practices that increase student learning to innovative community involvement strategies.
The summaries – along with other school information including poverty levels, enrollment and demographic characteristics – are posted on the Showcase section of the Department of Education’s website.
“The Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards Showcase provides an excellent way for educators to learn about best practices in neighboring schools, creating learning communities among all schools across the state,” said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. “There are thousands of success stories that are worth sharing.”
As part of the Showcase project, three top-scoring schools will be featured on In Our Schools, a production of the Education Department’s instructional television office and South Carolina ETV. The program airs statewide on Sunday, September 21, from 6 to 7 p.m. and repeats on September 25 and 29 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Channel 1 for schools (unlimited rights).
The In Our Schools program includes visits to Sanders-Clyde Elementary/Middle School in Charleston, a Palmetto Gold award winner; Lugoff-Elgin Middle in Kershaw County, a Palmetto Silver award winner; and Lake View High School in Dillon School District One, a Palmetto Gold award winner. This special program shows how these schools involve their entire school community in academic achievement and how they provide ways for all students to achieve success.
“These are good examples of high poverty schools that have worked successfully to obtain excellent student achievement and high rates of improvement,” Rex said. “I’m encouraging our educators and citizens alike to visit the Showcase online and tune-in to the television program. I promise that you’ll come away inspired.”
