Foothills Review

In the 2022-23 school year, 113 out of 451 McDowell County junior students taking the Reading portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

In the 2022-23 school year, Reading scores among the county district dropped to 25.1%, a decline of 6.9% from the previous school year when 32% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 33.4% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for Reading during this year.

Beyond Reading, 29.5% of McDowell County 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. On Math, 15.7% of students were ready for college, and Science scores revealed 15.1% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, McDowell County had an average college readiness of 8.2% across all ACT areas.

North Carolina's education system is still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022-23 ACT results, college readiness among North Carolina students falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with only 17.1% meeting benchmarks.

Additionally, the state's performance is lagging behind the national average, which currently stands at 21%.

District	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
McDowell County Schools	32%	25.1%