Foothills Review

At Rutherford County Schools, 156 out of 522 senior 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 29.9% compared to the previous school year, when 29.5% 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 71.1% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (32). Meanwhile, students from Rutherford Opportunity Center struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 12.5% 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, 37.2% of Rutherford County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 20.3% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 17.6% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Rutherford County Schools had an average college readiness of 12.6% 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)
Rutherford Early College High School	72.9%	71.1%
R-S Central High School	28.9%	27.6%
Chase High School	29.2%	26.7%
East Rutherford High School	18.1%	25.9%
Rutherford Opportunity Center	12.5%	12.5%
Rutherford County Schools	29.5%	29.9%