Foothills Review

At Polk County Schools, 38 out of 135 junior 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 28.1% compared to the previous school year, when 22.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Polk County High School students stood out from schools in Polk County Schools in math, with almost 28.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (34). Meanwhile, students from Polk County Early College struggled the most on the math portion, and only 23.5% 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, 52.6% of Polk County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 41.5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 37.8% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Polk County Schools had an average college readiness of 20.7% 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)
Polk County High School	21.3%	28.8%
Polk County Early College	27.8%	23.5%
Polk County Schools	22.1%	28.1%