S.C. Code Ann. § 59-18-340
The State Board of Education, following the recommendations of the Accountability Division of the Education Oversight Committee, is directed to select a norm referenced test to obtain an indication of student and school performance relative to national performance levels. The test must be administered annually to a statistically valid random sample of students in at least three grades from grades three through eleven. The Oversight Committee shall determine an appropriate sampling plan for the norm referenced test that must be administered beginning in the 1998-1999 school year.