Foothills Review

At McDowell County Schools, 59 out of 359 senior 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 16.4% compared to the previous school year, when 17.4% 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 47.2% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (17). Meanwhile, students from McDowell Virtual Academy struggled the most on the math portion, and only 7.1% 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, 39% of McDowell County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 31.5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 19.2% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, McDowell County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.5% 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	42.2%	47.2%
McDowell Academy for Innovation	17.4%	28%
McDowell High School	10.1%	12%
McDowell Virtual Academy	<5%	7.1%
McDowell County Schools	17.4%	16.4%