Foothills Review

At Cleveland County Schools, 328 out of 931 junior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools rose to 35.2% compared to the previous school year, when 34.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Cleveland ECHS students stood out from schools in Cleveland County Schools in English, with almost 73.2% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (30). Meanwhile, students from Shelby High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 29.8% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 25.1% of Cleveland County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 18.6% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 17.9% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Cleveland County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.8% 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%.

School	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
Cleveland ECHS	56.1%	73.2%
Crest High School	34.8%	39.7%
Burns High School	33.8%	33.3%
Cleveland Innovation	33.3%	33.3%
Kings Mountain High School	35.7%	31.2%
Shelby High School	27.2%	29.8%
Turning Point Academy	<5%	<5%
Cleveland County Schools	34.5%	35.2%