Asheville Reporter

At Asheville City Schools, 188 out of 368 senior 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 51.1% compared to the previous school year, when 52.4% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

School of Inquiry and Life Sciences students stood out from schools in Asheville City Schools in reading, with almost 57.8% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (52). Meanwhile, students from Asheville High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 48.9% 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, 55.7% of Asheville City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 40.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 26.9% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Asheville City Schools had an average college readiness of 20.9% 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)
School of Inquiry and Life Sciences	58.2%	57.8%
Asheville High School	50.8%	48.9%
Asheville City Schools	52.4%	51.1%