Foothills Review

At Cleveland County Schools, 200 out of 951 senior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools rose to 21% compared to the previous school year, when 18.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Cleveland ECHS students stood out from schools in Cleveland County Schools in math, with almost 27.6% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (16). Meanwhile, students from Shelby High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 12.3% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 35.2% of Cleveland County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 29.9% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 19.5% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Cleveland County Schools had an average college readiness of 11.6% 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	31.8%	27.6%
Kings Mountain High School	24.6%	26.5%
Crest High School	18%	22.7%
Burns High School	13.3%	18.8%
Cleveland Innovation	<5%	12.5%
Shelby High School	13.2%	12.3%
Turning Point Academy	<5%	<5%
Cleveland County Schools	18.5%	21%