Annual Report Card of school performance shows positive growth

The results of the South Dakota English Language Arts and Math Assessments are in, and they are included in the 2022-23 Report Card, which was released in early October.

The 2022-23 Report Card outlining performance of South Dakota’s public schools shows promising growth in key data at the school, district, and state levels. The full Report Card is now available at sdschools.sd.gov.

While South Dakota’s statewide attendance rate for school year 2022-23 stayed steady at 86 percent, the attendance rate for economically disadvantaged students increased 4 percentage points over 2021-22. And the rate for English learners increased by more than 2.5 percentage points in the last year.

“We saw more economically disadvantaged students meeting the attendance target last year,” said Secretary of Education Joseph Graves. “Students can’t master academics if they’re not in school, and we’re excited to see more students in need being in the classroom more consistently.”

More South Dakota students graduated on time last year. The four-year graduation rate rose to 84 percent, up from 82 percent the previous year. Within this metric, the economically disadvantaged subgroup saw its graduation rate grow by 6 percentage points, and the Native American subgroup rose by 2 percentage points.

The proficiency rate for English language arts was 50 percent, and the proficiency rate in math remained steady at 43 percent.

“Our new statewide literacy initiative is based on the principles of the Science of Reading,” said Graves. “I am confident that this initiative will lead to a boost in South Dakota’s reading scores in the coming years.”

K-12 schools prepare students for the next chapter of their lives. College and career readiness scores among South Dakota students increased 4 percentage points. Whether a student’s next step is college, technical school, or jumping straight into their careers, South Dakota educators are ensuring they have the knowledge and the resources they need to succeed.