Asheville Reporter

At Madison County Schools, 50 out of 161 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 31.1% compared to the previous school year, when 35.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Madison Early College High students stood out from schools in Madison County Schools in reading, with almost 45.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (30). Meanwhile, students from Madison High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 20.7% 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, 44.1% of Madison County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 19.3% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 13.7% 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	31.6%	45.5%
Madison High School	40%	20.7%
Madison Velocity Learning Center	<5%	<5%
Madison County Schools	35.2%	31.1%