Foothills Review

At McDowell County Schools, 113 out of 451 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 dropped to 25.1% compared to the previous school year, when 32% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

McDowell Early College students stood out from schools in McDowell County Schools in reading, with almost 54.7% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (29). Meanwhile, students from McDowell High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 18% 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, 29.5% of McDowell County Schools 11th-graders met English 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	78.4%	54.7%
McDowell Academy for Innovation	45.8%	45.8%
McDowell Virtual Academy	14.3%	34.3%
McDowell High School	25.6%	18%
McDowell County Schools	32%	25.1%