Four residents of The T&D Region have been appointed to a 29-member statewide task force that will conduct an intense examination of South Carolina's high school curriculum and recommend improvements to the state Legislature.

They are Dr. Anne Crook, president of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College; Sharon Marks of Gaston, a parent; Sen. John Matthews of Bowman and Melvin Smoak, superintendent of Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5.

Also named to the task force was Thomasina Benson, former principal of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. She is presently the principal specialist at Burke High School in Charleston County.

Co-chairs are Inez Tenenbaum, state superintendent of education, and Mack Whittle, CEO of Carolina First Bank and president of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

The task force and its members were announced Feb. 18.

"It's difficult to overstate the importance of first-class schools," Whittle said. "They are essential for economic development and for our overall quality of life. I believe the High School Redesign Commission can ultimately recommend some practical approaches to handling the challenges that our high schools face."

The commission — which includes top high school and college educators, state legislators and business and civic leaders — will hold its first meeting within a month, Tenenbaum said.

It will make its recommendations available to educators and the public for review before they go to the General Assembly next year.

"The more you study this issue, the more you realize that there is no clear-cut national consensus on what tomorrow's high school experience should look like," Tenenbaum said.

"South Carolina cannot afford to wait on that consensus to develop. If we're going to be competitive, if our children are going to be prepared to succeed in their lives and careers, then we need to address this challenge and address it now," she said.

Tenenbaum said the new commission will examine a wide range of issues affecting the state's 207 public high schools, including:

n Addressing the changes in work force and education expectations.

South Carolina no longer has an economy based on unskilled labor. Because tomorrow's careers will require more advanced education, how should the old system — one where only a select group of students took rigorous course work — be redesigned?

n Making connections to higher education.

With virtually all high-paying careers requiring some education beyond high school, how can high schools work more closely with higher education to create a smoother transition for students?

n Making connections to the real world.

How can high schools get students to see how their academic studies are critical to getting good jobs and leading productive lives?

n Making human connections.

Research shows that in too many high schools, students feel lost in the crowd. How can high schools be redesigned so that students can develop more meaningful relationships with teachers and counselors? How can high schools more effectively tailor students' experiences with their strengths and interests?

n Dealing with risky behavior.

How can high schools effectively address behavior-related problems such as truancy, drug and alcohol abuse and other unacceptable conduct?

Tenenbaum said 81 high schools earned ratings of Excellent on their 2004 state School Report Cards and 63 earned ratings of Good.

She said 95 South Carolina high schools met all of their 2004 goals for Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, a dramatic improvement from only nine high schools in 2003.

But there are significant concerns, Tenenbaum said. South Carolina's high school dropout rate is ranked eighth among the 38 states tracked by the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics.

The state's graduation rate — the percentage of high school students who graduate in four years — ranks among the nation's lowest, she said, adding that one factor is that South Carolina's graduation requirements are higher than nearly all states.

"What that says to me is that even though a higher percentage of South Carolina students stays in school when compared to other states, our students are taking too long to graduate," Tenenbaum said. "Too many of them aren't mastering the skills they need."

Tenenbaum said the state has improved student achievement at the elementary level through funding of full-day kindergarten for all students, implementation of higher academic standards and accountability under the Education Accountability Act of 1998 and intensified training for — and hard work by — classroom teachers.

"Our younger students have benefited so much from the improvements we've made in early education," Tenenbaum said, "and it's important for us to make changes in secondary education so that we can keep this momentum going."

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