Outer Banks Times

At Carteret County Public Schools, 334 out of 563 junior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools rose to 59.3% compared to the previous school year, when 56.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Croatan High School students stood out from schools in Carteret County Public Schools in English, with almost 68.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (148). Meanwhile, students from West Carteret High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 52.2% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 51% of Carteret County Public Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 38.4% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 35.5% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Carteret County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 24.9% 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)
Croatan High School	61.7%	68.5%
East Carteret High School	47%	56.8%
West Carteret High School	57.8%	52.2%
Bridges School	0%	<5%
Carteret County Public Schools	56.2%	59.3%