Outer Banks Times

At Hyde County Schools, seven out of 33 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 dropped to 21.2% compared to the previous school year, when 30% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Ocracoke School students stood out from schools in Hyde County Schools in reading, with almost 26.7% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (4). Meanwhile, students from Mattamuskeet Elementary School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 16.7% 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, 24.2% of Hyde County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 21.2% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 12.1% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Hyde County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.5% 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)
Ocracoke School	54.5%	26.7%
Mattamuskeet Elementary School	0%	16.7%
Hyde County Schools	30%	21.2%