Asheville Reporter

At Haywood County Schools, 206 out of 434 junior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools dropped to 47.5% compared to the previous school year, when 50.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Pisgah High School students stood out from schools in Haywood County Schools in English, with almost 46.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (96). Meanwhile, students from Tuscola High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 38.7% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 40.8% of Haywood County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 28.3% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 27.9% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Haywood County Schools had an average college readiness of 16.8% 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)
Pisgah High School	46.2%	46.8%
Tuscola High School	48.2%	38.7%
Central Haywood High School	<5%	<5%
Haywood Early College	90.9%	<5%
Haywood County Schools	50.6%	47.5%