Outer Banks Times

At Carteret County Public Schools, 263 out of 554 senior 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 47.5% compared to the previous school year, when 43.2% 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 49.8% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (100). Meanwhile, students from East Carteret High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 39.7% 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, 57% of Carteret County Public Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 36.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 34.3% 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	44.9%	49.8%
West Carteret High School	40.1%	49.4%
East Carteret High School	44.9%	39.7%
Carteret County Public Schools	43.2%	47.5%