Outer Banks Times

At Hyde County Schools, four out of 33 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 dropped to 12.1% compared to the previous school year, when 15% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Ocracoke School students stood out from schools in Hyde County Schools in science, with almost 13.3% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (2). Meanwhile, students from Mattamuskeet Elementary School struggled the most on the science portion, and 11.1% 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, 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 reading scores revealed 21.2% 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	27.3%	13.3%
Mattamuskeet Elementary School	0%	11.1%
Hyde County Schools	15%	12.1%