Outer Banks Times

At Carteret County Public Schools, 287 out of 563 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 rose to 51% compared to the previous school year, when 47.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Croatan High School students stood out from schools in Carteret County Public Schools in reading, with almost 55.1% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (119). Meanwhile, students from East Carteret High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 45.8% 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, 59.3% of Carteret County Public Schools 11th-graders met English 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	49.5%	55.1%
West Carteret High School	48.5%	50%
East Carteret High School	38.3%	45.8%
Bridges School	0%	<5%
Carteret County Public Schools	47.2%	51%