Outer Banks Times

At Carteret County Public Schools, 202 out of 554 senior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools rose to 36.5% compared to the previous school year, when 34.7% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

West Carteret High School students stood out from schools in Carteret County Public Schools in science, with almost 43% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (102). Meanwhile, students from East Carteret High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 27.6% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 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 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)
West Carteret High School	30.2%	43%
Croatan High School	41.2%	33.8%
East Carteret High School	31.8%	27.6%
Carteret County Public Schools	34.7%	36.5%