Foothills Review

At Rutherford County Schools, 134 out of 441 junior students taking the reading portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Reading scores among the district's schools rose to 30.4% compared to the previous school year, when 30.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Rutherford Early College High School students stood out from schools in Rutherford County Schools in reading, with almost 73.2% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (30). Meanwhile, students from R-S Central High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 22.8% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 36% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for reading during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides reading, 37.9% of Rutherford County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 18.4% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 18.1% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Rutherford County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.3% 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)
Rutherford Early College High School	72.7%	73.2%
Chase High School	27.2%	29.8%
East Rutherford High School	26.2%	25.5%
R-S Central High School	26.5%	22.8%
Rutherford Opportunity Center	14.3%	<5%
Rutherford County Schools	30.1%	30.4%