Outer Banks Times

At Dare County Schools, 148 out of 399 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 dropped to 37.2% compared to the previous school year, when 37.7% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

First Flight High School students stood out from schools in Dare County Schools in reading, with almost 40.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (86). Meanwhile, students from Manteo High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 33.3% 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, 48.2% of Dare County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 28.9% 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	45.3%	40.8%
Cape Hatteras Secondary School	50%	37.5%
Manteo High School	28.3%	33.3%
Dare Learning Academy	5.9%	<5%
Dare County Schools	37.7%	37.2%