NC North Carolina News

At Rockingham County Schools, 115 out of 711 senior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools dropped to 16.2% compared to the previous school year, when 16.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Rockingham County Early College High students stood out from schools in Rockingham County Schools in math, with almost 58.2% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (46). Meanwhile, students from John M. Morehead High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 7.1% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 27.3% of Rockingham County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 23.3% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 14.6% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Rockingham County Schools had an average college readiness of 10.4% 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)
Rockingham County Early College High	34.4%	58.2%
Rockingham County High School	20.7%	16.3%
Dalton McMichael High School	18.1%	15.3%
John M. Morehead High School	9.5%	7.1%
Reidsville High School	6.8%	<5%
The SCORE Center	<5%	<5%
Rockingham County Schools	16.6%	16.2%