Outer Banks Times

At Dare County Schools, 115 out of 399 junior 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 rose to 28.9% compared to the previous school year, when 26.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

First Flight High School students stood out from schools in Dare County Schools in math, with almost 34.1% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (72). Meanwhile, students from Cape Hatteras Secondary School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 18.8% 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, 48.2% of Dare County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 37.2% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 24.2% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Dare County Schools had an average college readiness of 15.4% 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)
First Flight High School	33%	34.1%
Manteo High School	19.7%	25.8%
Cape Hatteras Secondary School	25%	18.8%
Dare Learning Academy	5.3%	<5%
Dare County Schools	26.1%	28.9%