Outer Banks Times

At Carteret County Public Schools, 190 out of 554 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 rose to 34.3% compared to the previous school year, when 34% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Croatan High School students stood out from schools in Carteret County Public Schools in math, with almost 35.3% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (71). Meanwhile, students from East Carteret High School struggled the most on the math portion, and 31% 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, 57% of Carteret County Public Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 47.5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 36.5% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Carteret County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 24.3% 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	40.6%	35.3%
West Carteret High School	29.3%	35%
East Carteret High School	31.8%	31%
Carteret County Public Schools	34%	34.3%