NE Piedmont News

At Vance County Schools, 39 out of 263 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 14.8% compared to the previous school year, when 17.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Vance County Early College students stood out from schools in Vance County Schools in reading, with almost 38.2% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (21). Meanwhile, students from Vance County High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 9.3% 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, 18.6% of Vance County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 8.4% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 8% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Vance County Schools had an average college readiness of less than 5% 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)
Vance County Early College	50%	38.2%
Vance County High School	10.2%	9.3%
AdVance Academy	<5%	<5%
Vance Virtual Village Academy	6.7%	<5%
Vance County Schools	17.6%	14.8%