Asheville Reporter

At Haywood County Schools, 177 out of 434 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 40.8% compared to the previous school year, when 41% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Haywood Early College students stood out from schools in Haywood County Schools in reading, with almost 81.1% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (30). Meanwhile, students from Pisgah High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 36.1% 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, 47.5% of Haywood County Schools 11th-graders met English 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)
Haywood Early College	87.9%	81.1%
Tuscola High School	42.9%	38.2%
Pisgah High School	31.2%	36.1%
Central Haywood High School	<5%	<5%
Haywood County Schools	41%	40.8%