Asheville Reporter

At Madison County Schools, 22 out of 161 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 13.7% compared to the previous school year, when 16.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Madison Early College High students stood out from schools in Madison County Schools in math, with almost 18.2% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (12). Meanwhile, students from Madison High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 10.9% 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, 44.1% of Madison County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 31.1% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 19.3% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Madison County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.3% 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)
Madison Early College High	15.8%	18.2%
Madison High School	17.5%	10.9%
Madison Velocity Learning Center	<5%	<5%
Madison County Schools	16.2%	13.7%