SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - Eight teachers at Bates Middle School are celebrating after earning thousands of dollars in state grant funding for improving student test scores.

The teachers received the money through South Carolina’s Strategic Compensation Grant, a pilot program that rewards educators whose students show significant academic growth from one year to the next.

According to the South Carolina Department of Education, dozens of schools statewide have received funding through the program, which is based entirely on year-to-year improvement in standardized test scores.

Bates Middle School recorded some of the strongest growth in the state. The school scored 48.2 out of 50 on South Carolina’s growth percentile scale for SC READY math and English/language arts.

The improvement also hel

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