Foothills Review

At McDowell County Schools, 68 out of 451 junior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools dropped to 15.1% compared to the previous school year, when 19.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

McDowell Early College students stood out from schools in McDowell County Schools in science, with almost 52.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (28). Meanwhile, students from McDowell Virtual Academy struggled the most on the science portion, and only 5.7% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 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 math scores revealed 15.7% 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%	52.8%
McDowell Academy for Innovation	41.7%	33.3%
McDowell High School	14.2%	8.8%
McDowell Virtual Academy	14.3%	5.7%
McDowell County Schools	19.9%	15.1%