Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
Each school district board of trustees must ensure quality
schooling by providing a rigorous, relevant curriculum for all students.
Each school district must offer a standards-based academic
curriculum organized around a career cluster system that provides students with
individualized education pathways and endorsements.
I. Requirements for Earning a South Carolina
High School Diploma
A. The student must earn a
total of twenty-four units of credit as follows:
|
Unit Requirements
|
|
English language arts
|
4.0
|
|
mathematics
|
4.0
|
|
science
|
3.0
|
|
U.S. History and Constitution
|
1.0
|
|
economics
|
0.5
|
|
U.S. Government
|
0.5
|
|
other social studies
|
1.0
|
|
physical education or Junior ROTC
|
1.0
|
|
computer science
|
1.0
|
|
foreign language or career and technology
education
|
1.0
|
|
financial literacy
|
0.5
|
|
electives
|
6.5
|
|
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|
|
24.0 total
|
B.
Students shall have the opportunity to earn endorsements within each high
school diploma pathway; however, earning an endorsement is not a requirement
for graduation. Endorsements shall identify a particular area of focus,
beginning with the freshman class of 2018-19. The earning of a graduation
endorsement shall be based upon the following criteria:
1. Students shall meet all requirements for
earning a South Carolina high school diploma as set forth above and within this
regulation.
2. Students may earn
one or more endorsements in pathways approved in guidelines set by the State
Board of Education (SBE). School districts may apply to the SBE to have
additional endorsements approved.
3. English I, II, III, IV or their course
equivalents (customized English I, II, III, IV as approved by the SBE through
the locally designed course process as mentioned in II.H.1) or higher level
courses (Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Dual Credit, etc.)
must be taken to receive an endorsement.
C. The South Carolina Department of Education
(SCDE) has the authority to develop guidelines approved by the SBE in
accordance with provisions of this regulation.
D. The student must pass a classroom
examination on the provisions and principles of the United States Constitution,
the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist papers, and American
institutions and ideals. This instruction must be given for a period of at
least one year or its equivalent, either within the required course U.S.
History and Constitution or within another course. (For specific regulations
regarding the end-of-course test for U.S. History and Constitution, see Reg.
43-262, Assessment Program.) As part of the high school curriculum regarding
the United States government required credit, students are required to take the
civics test as defined as the one hundred questions that officers of the United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services use to demonstrate a knowledge and
understanding of the fundamentals of United States history and the principles
and form of the United States government.
E. The student must pass a high school credit
course in science in which an end-of-course examination is
administered.
F. The student must
be enrolled for a minimum of one semester immediately preceding his or her
graduation, except in case of a bona fide change of residence. Units earned in
a summer school program do not satisfy this requirement.
II. Provisions for Schools in the Awarding of
High School Credit
A. A school may award and
accept credit in units of one-fourth, one-half, and a whole.
B. A school may award one unit of credit for
an academic standards-based course that requires a minimum of 120 hours of
instruction. A school may award one-half unit of credit for an academic
standards-based course requiring a minimum of 60 hours of instruction and
one-fourth unit of credit for an academic standards-based course requiring a
minimum of 30 hours of instruction.
C. A school may award credit for courses that
have been approved by the SCDE in a proficiency-based system. A
proficiency-based course may also be offered for one-fourth, one-half, or one
unit if the system specifies these units. Each school district that seeks to
implement a proficiency-based system must submit a plan to the SCDE that
provides procedures for establishing and developing a proficiency-based system
including the method for determining proficiency. The SCDE must approve the
district-submitted plan prior to the district's use of the proficiency-based
system. Districts are accountable for making sure that the academic standards
and the individual learning needs of the students are addressed.
D. A school may award credit for those
gateway courses that are a part of the End-of-Course Examination Program only
if a student takes the course approved by the school in which he or she is
enrolled and meets all the stipulated requirements of the End-of-Course
Examination Program. (For specific regulations regarding end-of-course tests,
see Reg. 43-262, Assessment Program.)
E. A school may award credit only for courses
in summer programs-either district-wide or school-site programs-that meet all
the regulatory requirements for courses offered for students in grades nine
through twelve. A district-wide summer school program may meet the
administrative certification requirement by employing a district supervisor as
well as a lead teacher for each school site.
F. A school may award credit for a course
that is approved by the district-whether that school offers the particular
course or not-if the student receives prior approval.
G. A school may award credit toward the high
school diploma for a course that the student takes in an approved adult
education program if the course is granted approval by the local superintendent
or his or her designee.
H. A school
may award credit for locally designed courses under the following conditions:
1. Locally designed core subject-area courses
used as graduation units of credit must be aligned with the state academic
standards for the particular subject area and must be approved by the local
board of trustees and the State Superintendent of Education.
2. Locally designed elective courses must be
approved by the local board of trustees. No more than two units may be awarded
to a student for released-time classes in religious instruction.
3. Locally designed Career and Technical
Education (CATE) courses funded with state or federal CATE monies must be
approved by the SCDE's CATE office.
I. A school may award credit for the American
Sign Language course as the required unit in a foreign language.
J. A school may award credit for a college
course that students in grades nine through twelve take under the district's
dual credit arrangement.
K. A
student who has earned the one-half credit in Keyboarding by the 2017-18 school
year will be awarded one-half unit of credit for Computer Science.
L. A student must earn one-half credit in
financial literacy beginning with the freshman class of 2023-24. A student who
earns one credit in CATE Personal Finance will be awarded one-half credit for
Financial Literacy.
III.
Dual Credit Arrangement
A. District boards of
trustees may establish a policy allowing students to take college courses for
units of credit toward the high school diploma. The district policy may allow
for courses to be offered by an institution of higher education through a
cooperative agreement.
B. A
three-semester-hour college course transfers as one unit of credit.
C. Tuition costs and any other fees are the
responsibility of the individual student or his or her parent(s) or legal
guardian unless otherwise specified in local school district policy.
D. Students enrolled in a South Carolina
public school may take only courses that are applicable to baccalaureate
degrees, associate degrees, or certification programs that lead to an industry
credential offered by an appropriate regional accrediting agency recognized by
the U.S. Department of Education.
IV. Transfer Students
A transfer student is one who enrolls in a South Carolina
public school after having been enrolled in another school in this state or in
a school in another state. Credits that he or she earned at the former school
may be accepted and applied toward the South Carolina high school diploma. (For
specific regulations see Reg. 43-273, Transfers and Withdrawals.)
V. Instructional Program
School districts must organize high school curricula around a
minimum of three clusters of study and cluster majors. Such curricula must be
designed to provide a well-rounded education that fosters artistic creativity,
critical thinking, and self-discipline through the teaching of academic content
and skills that students will use in postsecondary study and in the workplace.
Students must declare an area of academic focus, also known as a career major,
within a cluster of study before the end of the second semester of their
tenth-grade year.
Each year, schools must offer a range of required college- and
career-ready courses in the core subject areas as listed in the SCDE's Activity
Coding System to meet the needs of all students in a four-year graduation
cohort.
For students whose academic needs are greater than those
courses offered by their school, Virtual SC courses, if available, must be
offered by the district to the students in order to graduate with the four-year
graduation cohort.
A. Career Clusters
School districts must use the sixteen clusters for reporting
purposes but may modify these clusters (for example, Arts and Humanities in
place of Arts, Audio-Video Technology, and Communications). The sixteen state
clusters are the same as the sixteen federal clusters:
Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
Architecture and Construction
Arts, Audio-Video Technology, and Communications
Business, Management, and Administration
Education and Training
Finance
Government and Public Administration
Health Science
Hospitality and Tourism
Human Services/Family and Consumer Sciences
Information Technology
Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security
Manufacturing
Marketing, Sales, and Service
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics
B. Schools must also offer instruction in
each of the following areas:
1. Advanced
Placement: Schools whose organizational structure includes grades eleven and
twelve must offer Advanced Placement courses. (For specific regulations
regarding the Advanced Placement program, see Reg. 43-258.1, Advanced
Placement.)
2. Alcohol, tobacco,
and other drugs: Schools must provide age-appropriate instruction regarding the
dangers in the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Instruction
must emphasize the negative effects that the use of such substances can have on
the total community.
3. Career and
technology education: Schools must offer CATE courses. Students who plan to
complete a CATE program must earn at least three units in an approved sequence
of CATE courses leading to a career goal.
4. Driver education: Schools must provide a
complete program of driver education, including classroom and behind-the-wheel
phases, each semester on an elective basis for eligible students. (For specific
regulations regarding driver education, see Reg. 43-242, Driver
Training.)
5. Environmental
studies: Schools must include environmental studies as a part of their
instructional program.
6. Financial
literacy: Schools must include financial literacy as a part of the
instructional program.
7. Foreign
language (modern and classical languages): Schools must offer levels 1 and 2 of
at least one modern or classical language. Most state four-year
colleges/universities require at least two units of the same modern or
classical language for admission.
8. Health education: Schools must have a
program of instruction in comprehensive health education. (For specific
requirements regarding health education, see Reg. 43-238, Health Education
Requirement.)
At least one time during the entire four years of grades nine
through twelve, each student shall receive instruction in cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) which must include, but not be limited to, hands-only CPR
and must include awareness in the use of an automated external defibrillator
(AED) except that virtual schools may administer the instruction virtually and
are exempt from any in-person instructional requirements.
9. Physical education: The required physical
education course in secondary schools shall occur over two semesters (year-long
schedule) or two nine weeks (semester block schedule) or the equivalent. For
one semester, a personal fitness and wellness component must be taught, and for
one semester, a lifetime fitness component must be taught either over the
semester or in two nine-week divisions or the equivalent.
10. Visual and performing arts: Schools must
offer courses in the visual and performing arts.
VI. Other Program Requirements
A. School Counseling Program
All schools encompassing any combination of grades nine through
twelve are required to provide a comprehensive school counseling program that
is based on grade-specific standards. The standards must address the academic,
personal and social, and the career domains. Specifically, students must be
provided school counseling and career awareness programs and activities that
assist them in developing and fulfilling their individual graduation plans and
prepare them for a seamless transition to relevant employment, further
training, or postsecondary study.
B. Library Media Program
Library media programs and technology resources must be
available and accessible to all students and staff and must be appropriate for
the accomplishment of the strategies and goals in each school renewal or
district strategic plan.
C.
Length of School Day
1. The instructional day
for secondary students must be at least 6 hours, excluding lunch, or the
equivalent weekly.
2. Homeroom will
not count as part of the instructional day. When no homeroom period is
utilized, the administrative time that is used to determine attendance, make
announcements, or complete other tasks normally accomplished during homeroom
period will not be considered as part of the instructional day.
3. Schools may exercise options and vary the
number of minutes in the instructional week, provided that such variation meets
statutory requirements and is approved by the local board of
trustees.
D. Class Size
1. The teacher load must not exceed the
maximum of 150 students daily. Class size must not exceed the maximum of 35
students.
2. The above-stated
maximums do not apply in the following circumstances:
a. A maximum of 40 students per period with a
total teaching load of 240 students daily is permitted for physical education
teachers. If physical education and health are taught on alternate days to the
same class, the 40-student maximum and 240-student totals are also permitted
for health. When health is taught as a separate subject, the teaching load is a
maximum of 35 students per period and a total of 150 students per
day.
b. Music teachers may teach a
maximum of 240 pupils daily. No class may exceed 40 students in membership.
However, when band, chorus, or orchestra require rehearsals of the entire
membership, any number of students is acceptable if adequate space is
available.
c. When a teacher's
daily schedule includes a combination of subjects, the maximum daily teaching
load will be calculated on the basis of 30 students per academic class and 40
students for each music or physical education class. (Example, 3 classes of
math of 30 each = 90 + 2 classes of physical education of 40 each = 80. In this
example, the teacher is not overloaded but teaches maximum
allowable.)
d. Maximum teacher load
requirements and individual class size limits are the same for mini-courses as
for any other classes.
E. Additional Regulatory Requirements
1. Due to federal requirements, all students
must take a science course for which an assessment is given.
2. For state accountability purposes, every
student must take an end-of-course examination in biology.
3. State Board regulations that contain
instructional program requirements are accessible on the SCDE web site on the
"State Board of Education Regulations Table of Contents" page.
4. All students must be offered a college
entrance assessment that is from a provider secured by the SCDE. In addition,
all students entering the eleventh grade for the first time in school year
2017-2018 and subsequent years, must be administered a career readiness
assessment. If funds are available, the State shall provide all twelfth grade
students the opportunity to take or retake a college readiness assessment, the
career readiness assessment, and/or earn industry credentials or certifications
at no cost to the students. Therefore, the students may subsequently use the
results of those assessments to apply to college or to enter the work force or
the military.
5. High schools shall
offer state-funded tests to each tenth grade student in order to assess and
identify curricular areas that need to be strengthened and reinforced. Schools
and districts shall use these assessments as diagnostic tools to provide
academic assistance to students whose scores reflect the need for such
assistance. Furthermore, schools and districts shall use these assessments to
provide guidance and direction for parents and students as they plan for
postsecondary experiences.
VII. Reporting Requirements
A. High School Completers
1. Each school issuing the state high school
diploma must submit to the State Superintendent of Education on or before May 1
the following data on its previous year's completers:
a. the number of the school's completers who
entered the freshman class of a postsecondary institution-either in South
Carolina or out of state-and on whom such an institution has sent the school a
first-term transcript or summary grade report,
b. a breakdown of all postsecondary courses
that this group of completers passed during their term,
c. a breakdown of all postsecondary courses
that this group failed during their first term,
d. a breakdown of all postsecondary courses
for which this group received a grade of "no credit" during their first term,
and
e. the number of the school's
completers who did not enter a postsecondary institution but who instead chose
a postsecondary alternative such as employment or military service or for whom
no information is available.
2. Each school must use the official form to
submit the required data on its previous year's completers.
B. Career and Technology Education
Completers
Each district must survey all its high school graduates who are
identified as career and technology education completers to determine their
placement status with regard to employment, postsecondary education, and
military service. A career and technology education completer is a student with
an assigned Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code who has earned
at least three units of credit in CATE courses leading to a career goal.
The district must conduct the survey ten months after
graduation each year and must submit the results annually to the SCDE for the
purpose of federal and state accountability requirements.
C. Student Records
1. Each school must have an appropriate means
of reporting academic achievement to parents.
2. Each school district must maintain
accurate student data according to the pupil accounting system prescribed by
the SCDE.
3. Each school district
must file a record of all dropouts that specifies for every student the name of
the school in which he or she was enrolled and gives the following information
on the student: his or her name, grade, race, sex, date of birth, free/reduced
meals status, English proficiency status, and migrant status.
4. Each district superintendent must verify
the accuracy of the student enrollment, attendance, membership by category, and
dropout reports submitted to the SCDE's Office of Finance.
5. Each school must comply with the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act regarding student records (20 U.S.C. Section
1232(g)).
D. Course Records for Students
1. Each district superintendent must verify
the accuracy of course records for students.
2. The name and code number of every course
that each student takes must be entered into the student data collection system
active master scheduler at the time the student takes the course. Courses may
not be added to the student's course history (transcript) without first being
entered into the scheduler.
3.
Courses offered in nontraditional settings such as online courses, courses
offered in conjunction with a college or technical college (i.e., dual credit),
and courses offered by the school through the district, state, or another type
of provider must be included in the active master scheduler.
E. Longitudinal Data System
The Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, working with the Office
of First Steps to School Readiness, the SCDE, the South Carolina Commission on
Higher Education, the Department of Social Services, the South Carolina
Technical College System, the Department of Commerce, the Department of
Employment and Workforce, and other state agencies or institutions of higher
education, shall develop, implement, and maintain a universal identification
system that includes, at a minimum, the following information for measuring the
continuous improvement of the state public education system and the college and
career readiness and success of its graduates:
1. students graduating from public high
schools in the State who enter postsecondary education without the need for
remediation;
2. working-aged adults
in South Carolina by county who possess a postsecondary degree or industry
credential;
3. high school
graduates who are gainfully employed in the State within five and ten years of
graduating from high school; and
4.
outcome data regarding student achievement and student growth that will assist
colleges of education in achieving accreditation and in improving the quality
of teachers in classrooms.
VIII. Emergency Closings
All school days missed because of snow, extreme weather
conditions, or other disruptions requiring schools to close must be made up.
All school districts shall designate annually at least three days within their
school calendars to be used as make-up days in the event of these occurrences.
If those designated days have been used or are no longer available, the local
school board of trustees may lengthen the hours of school operation by no less
than one hour per day for the total number of hours missed, operate schools on
Saturday, or may waive up to three days. A waiver granted by the local board of
trustees may only be authorized by a majority vote of the local school board,
and, after the completion of the 2014-15 school year, may not be granted for a
school in the district until the school has made up three full days, or the
equivalent number of hours, missed due to snow, extreme weather, or other
disruptions requiring the school to close during the same school year in which
the waiver is sought. When a district waives a make-up day pursuant to this
section, the make-up day also is waived for all charter schools located in the
district and for all students participating in a home schooling program
approved by the board of trustees of the district in which the student resides.
Schools operating on a four-by-four block schedule shall make every effort to
make up the time during the semester in which the days are missed. A plan to
make up days by lengthening the school day must be approved by the SCDE, Office
of Federal and State Accountability before implementation. Tutorial instruction
for grades 7 through 12 may be taught on Saturday at the direction of the local
school board. If a local school board authorizes make-up days on Saturdays,
tutorial instruction normally offered on Saturday for seventh through twelfth
graders must be scheduled at an alternative time.
The SBE may waive the requirements of making up days beyond the
three days forgiven by the local school district, not to exceed three
additional days missed because of snow, extreme weather conditions, or other
disruptions requiring schools to close. Such a waiver only may be considered
and granted upon the request of the local board of trustees through a majority
vote of that local school board. The SCDE annually before July 1 shall provide
the General Assembly with a detailed report of information from each district
listing the number of days missed and the reason, regardless of whether any
were missed; days made up; and days waived.
Statutory Authority: S.C. Code Ann. Sections
59-5-60
(2004), 59-5-65 (2004), 59-29-10 et seq. (2004)(Supp. 2005), 59-39-10 et seq.
(2004)(Supp. 2005), 59-53-1810 (2004), 59-59-10 et seq. (Supp. 2005), and No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.
(2002)
