Foothills Review

At McDowell County Schools, 133 out of 451 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 dropped to 29.5% compared to the previous school year, when 39% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

McDowell Early College students stood out from schools in McDowell County Schools in English, with almost 77.4% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (41). Meanwhile, students from McDowell High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 19.5% 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 McDowell County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 15.7% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 15.1% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, McDowell County Schools had an average college readiness of 8.2% 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)
McDowell Early College	89.2%	77.4%
McDowell Academy for Innovation	62.5%	66.7%
McDowell Virtual Academy	14.3%	28.6%
McDowell High School	31.7%	19.5%
McDowell County Schools	39%	29.5%