Greenville Reporter

At Pitt County Schools, 295 out of 1,477 junior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools dropped to 20% compared to the previous school year, when 21.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Innovation Early College High students stood out from schools in Pitt County Schools in science, with almost 58.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (24). Meanwhile, students from North Pitt High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 6.1% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 35.2% of Pitt County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 29.9% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 24.8% 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	60.5%	58.5%
PCS Early College High School	34.4%	36.1%
Junius H. Rose High School	28.6%	28.3%
D. H. Conley High School	26.4%	26.6%
South Central	13.8%	12.5%
Farmville Central High School	12%	10.2%
Ayden-Grifton High School	13.7%	10%
North Pitt High School	6.2%	6.1%
Pitt County Schools	21.2%	20%