Greenville Reporter

At Greene County Schools, 23 out of 184 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 12.5% compared to the previous school year, when 15.7% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Greene Early College High students stood out from schools in Greene County Schools in reading, with almost 37.9% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (11). Meanwhile, students from Greene Central 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, 17.4% of Greene County Schools 11th-graders met English 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	35.1%	37.9%
Greene Central High School	10.6%	7.7%
Greene County Schools	15.7%	12.5%