IBX News

At Hertford County Schools, 24 out of 160 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 rose to 15.1% compared to the previous school year, when 8.4% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Hertford County Early College students stood out from schools in Hertford County Schools in reading, with almost 48.7% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (19). Meanwhile, students from C. S. Brown High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 7.7% 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, 15% of Hertford County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 10.1% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed less than 5% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Hertford 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)
Hertford County Early College	15%	48.7%
C. S. Brown High School	12.9%	7.7%
Hertford County High School	<5%	<5%
Hertford County Schools	8.4%	15.1%