Foothills Review

At McDowell County Schools, 71 out of 451 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 dropped to 15.7% compared to the previous school year, when 17.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

McDowell Early College students stood out from schools in McDowell County Schools in math, with almost 60.4% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (32). Meanwhile, students from McDowell Virtual Academy and McDowell High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 8.6% 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, 29.5% of McDowell County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 25.1% 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	51.4%	60.4%
McDowell Academy for Innovation	29.2%	29.2%
McDowell Virtual Academy	7.1%	8.6%
McDowell High School	12.1%	8.6%
McDowell County Schools	17.1%	15.7%