Greenville Reporter

At Pitt County Schools, 385 out of 1,367 senior 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 28.2% compared to the previous school year, when 26.9% 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 62.2% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (28). Meanwhile, students from North Pitt High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 13.4% 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, 31.3% of Pitt County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 20.2% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 20.1% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Pitt County Schools had an average college readiness of 12.8% 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	43.8%	62.2%
Junius H. Rose High School	36.3%	38.2%
D. H. Conley High School	37.9%	33.1%
South Central	21.8%	25.1%
Ayden-Grifton High School	<5%	21.1%
Farmville Central High School	19%	15.2%
North Pitt High School	7.5%	13.4%
Pitt County Schools	26.9%	28.2%