IBX News

At Bertie County Schools, 20 out of 133 junior 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 15% compared to the previous school year, when 21.3% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Bertie Early College High students stood out from schools in Bertie County Schools in English, with almost 40% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (12). Meanwhile, students from Bertie High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 7.8% 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, 11.4% of Bertie County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, less than 5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed less than 5% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Bertie 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)
Bertie Early College High	42.9%	40%
Bertie High School	7.6%	7.8%
Bertie County Schools	21.3%	15%