Greenville Reporter

At Pitt County Schools, 442 out of 1,477 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 29.9% compared to the previous school year, when 28.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Innovation Early College High students stood out from schools in Pitt County Schools in reading, with almost 51.2% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (21). Meanwhile, students from North Pitt High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 14.6% 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, 35.2% of Pitt County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 24.8% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 20% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Pitt County Schools had an average college readiness of 13.6% 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)
Innovation Early College High	65.1%	51.2%
PCS Early College High School	46.9%	47.2%
Junius H. Rose High School	38.3%	40.2%
D. H. Conley High School	32.4%	39.1%
South Central	25.3%	21.9%
Ayden-Grifton High School	17.8%	20.7%
Farmville Central High School	14.5%	16.1%
North Pitt High School	13.1%	14.6%
Pitt County Schools	28.6%	29.9%