From Average to Excellent with Reliable Data

Kershaw County School District serves approximately 11,000 students across 19 buildings in South Carolina. The district found itself at a critical crossroads regarding student achievement: while it had talented educators and capable students, their potential wasn't reflected in state report cards.

Then, the district made a long-term goal to become one of the top five districts in South Carolina. Academic leadership realized they couldn't do that with fragmented instructional tools. Their strategy was to simplify where learning and assessment took place and bridge the gap between good teaching and the student outcomes they knew were possible.

As Kershaw County started down the road to become a top-five district, leaders focused on three priorities when it came to assessments.

First, they needed to create common expectations with consistent rigor. While faculty knew that assessment was a critical part of the learning process, educators were often asked to be test-makers and data analysts without the proper tools or training.

They also wanted vendor support that was relationship-driven. Rather than being just another customer, they looked for a partner who welcomed their feedback and shared equal responsibility for supporting their teachers and students.  

Finally, the data needed to be visual and instant. The team saw how color-coded trackers that populated immediately after an assessment let teachers pivot instruction, rather than taking time to decipher spreadsheets and manually identify patterns.

The district skipped a slow rollout and jumped into Mastery with both feet, so every teacher and student had access to the tools they needed from day one.

Middle school principal Rebecca Shackleford recognized that providing a platform without a process is like handing over ingredients without a recipe. She established a weekly staff meeting to review Mastery data and translate color-coded patterns into instructional plans for the week. By creating custom data analysis sheets and establishing hallway experts throughout the building, the school had on-the-ground support for the day-to-day questions that popped up. Teachers began using deep item analysis to pinpoint exactly where a student or group of students struggled with a specific standard, so they could reteach targeted concepts while the lesson was still fresh.

The district also integrated Mastery directly into Canvas LMS to keep the student experience focused. Teachers could embed assessments directly into Canvas assignments, which helped build teacher buy-in and alleviated student distraction or anxiety about where to go or how to log in.
 

Academic gains shifted almost immediately. By connecting classroom activities and formative benchmark assessments to state standards, Kershaw County improved scores and redefined what student ownership looks like in the classroom.   

The impact of this shift was most visible at the building level. Rebecca Shackleford’s middle school climbed from the lower average to an "Excellent" rating on the South Carolina state report card in just a single year, proving that the right tool in the hands of talented educators can drastically change student trajectories.

Beyond the numbers, classroom cultures shifted. Teachers collaborate across buildings to share successful teaching strategies, and students act as their own data analysts. Students even take charge of their own growth by tracking their progress in physical, color-coded books, so every assessment helps them build a map to their own success.

Instead of seeing “red” and assuming future failure, students are having conversations with their teachers and peers about what they struggled with and what they need to practice next. "When students see their red turn to yellow and yellow turn to green in Mastery, you can see their entire posture change,” Shackleford explained. “They understand that they can master these concepts. We see it as a way of giving students ownership of their learning and helping them really understand it.”

Kershaw County shows that data isn’t a burden when it’s reliable, instantly relevant, and visual. With big gains to build on, the district continues moving closer to its goal of being one of the top five districts in South Carolina.