Charleston County School District Achieves Historic Gains in Reading and Mathematics

Charleston County School District (CCSD), the second-largest school system in South Carolina, is celebrating historic gains in student achievement.

According to the 2025 South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Assessments (SC READY), 65 percent of CCSD students in Grades 3–8 scored proficient or above in reading, marking a 15.6-percentage-point increase since 2019. In mathematics, 54 percent of students scored proficient or above, representing a 5.4-percentage-point increase over pre-pandemic levels. *

These results build on findings from the Education Recovery Scorecard, a national analysis by Harvard University and Stanford University, which showed CCSD ranking as the district with the largest state test improvement among the Council of the Great City Schools districts included in the study. On average, CCSD students gained roughly one-third of a grade level more in both reading and mathematics than the national average during the same period.

Superintendent Anita Huggins credits this progress to intentional leadership and a steadfast commitment to equity and evidence-based teaching:

“Our goal has always been to serve children and ensure that our most vulnerable learners have the resources they need to be successful,” she said. “By leaning into learner-driven, evidence-based practices and empowering our educators to make informed decisions, we’re seeing what’s possible when every student is supported to achieve at the highest level.”

CCSD’s learner-driven approach combines professional learning communities, strategic tutoring access, and a responsive weighted-student funding model to ensure resources reach the students who need them most.

Strategic partnerships also contributed to CCSD’s success, including its collaboration with Curriculum Associates. “We have been honored to support the great work at CCSD for the past four years,” said Kelly Sia, CEO of Curriculum Associates. “We measure our success by the impact we have in classrooms. Working alongside educators, students, and leaders and seeing these outcomes have been inspiring for all of us at CA.” 

Read the CCSD impact spotlight to learn more.

*Note: These data represent all students tested. Results will differ slightly from the South Carolina Report Card results (typically higher) due to continuous enrollment, Multilingual Learner initial US entry data, etc.

About CCSD

Charleston County School is a nationally accredited school district committed to providing equitable and quality educational opportunities for all its students. CCSD is the second-largest school system in South Carolina and represents a unique blend of urban, suburban, and rural schools spanning 1,300 square miles along the coast. CCSD serves approximately 50,000 students in 88 schools and specialized programs.

CCSD offers a diverse portfolio of educational options and specialized programs delivered to its students through neighborhood, magnet, international baccalaureate, Montessori, and charter schools and programs. Rich educational opportunities for students include programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; music and other creative and performing arts; career and technical preparation programs; military; dual credit; and many more.

About Curriculum Associates

Curriculum Associates is a mission-driven company dedicated to making Grades K–12 classrooms better for more than 17 million students and one million educators nationwide. The company’s connected suite of i-Ready® solutions unites adaptive assessment, personalized instruction, and core curriculum in English language arts and mathematics—supported by expert professional learning and service teams—alongside Ellevation for Multilingual Learners and Stile Education® for middle school science. Through its innovation hub, AI Labs, Curriculum Associates designs forward-looking technologies educators can trust. The company measures success by the impact it makes on student outcomes and is honored to support the extraordinary work of teachers every day.