IBX News

At Beaufort County Schools, 113 out of 388 senior 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 29.1% compared to the previous school year, when 31.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Beaufort County Early College High students stood out from schools in Beaufort County Schools in English, with almost 63.3% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (31). Meanwhile, students from Washington High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 20.1% 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, 25.3% of Beaufort County Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 18.8% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 18.6% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Beaufort County Schools had an average college readiness of 12.1% 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)
Beaufort County Early College High	74.2%	63.3%
Northside High School	28.6%	29.3%
Southside High School	18.2%	28.4%
Washington High School	22.9%	20.1%
B C Education Technology Center	<5%	<5%
Beaufort County Schools	31.2%	29.1%