Longtime state education chief visits, evaluates Charleston Co. School District

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County School District is getting a visit this week from one of the longest-serving state education chiefs of the 21st century. It is in an effort to improve literacy in the district and improve student outcomes.

Retired Mississippi State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carey Wright came to Charleston to evaluate the Charleston County School District’s work in reading, math, college and career readiness.

Wright says she wants to get a comprehensive picture of what is going on in schools and based on her experiences, she wants to give her best thinking about what is going well and what they can improve on.

Wright is touring schools and taking note of the culture, relationships and the instruction.

She says she witnessed for herself “excellent” instruction that is going on in the three schools she visited on Wednesday.

“The culture of the schools that I went in was just phenomenal,” Wright said. “It was children respecting teachers, teachers respecting children, teachers and students on task. Very explicit instruction in the areas that you would want to see in a wonderful classroom.”

Under her leadership, Mississippi climbed in rank from 50th to 35th in education.

During her two-day visit, Wright is hoping to bring that success to the Lowcountry, engaging with district educators about the district’s goal of achieving Vision 2027, where all students read on grade level by the 5th grade.

“I consider reading and literacy to be the foundation for student learning,” district Superintendent Don Kennedy said.

Wright is meeting with more district leaders and staff on Thursday and having collaborative conversations with them in hopes of improving student outcomes.

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