Greenville Reporter

At Greene County Schools, 32 out of 184 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 17.4% compared to the previous school year, when 19.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Greene Early College High students stood out from schools in Greene County Schools in English, with almost 48.3% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (14). Meanwhile, students from Greene Central High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 11.6% 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, 12.5% of Greene County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 7.1% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed less than 5% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Greene 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)
Greene Early College High	43.2%	48.3%
Greene Central High School	12.9%	11.6%
Greene County Schools	19.2%	17.4%