Asheville Reporter

At Haywood County Schools, 181 out of 430 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 rose to 42.1% compared to the previous school year, when 40.7% 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 83.3% of the 12th-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 31.7% 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, 50.7% of Haywood County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 26% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 26% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Haywood County Schools had an average college readiness of 17.2% 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	65.3%	83.3%
Tuscola High School	39.8%	45%
Pisgah High School	36.8%	31.7%
Central Haywood High School	9.1%	<5%
Haywood County Schools	40.7%	42.1%