Hickory Sun

At Newton Conover City Schools, 39 out of 177 junior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools dropped to 22% compared to the previous school year, when 30.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Discovery High School students stood out from schools in Newton Conover City Schools in math, with almost 41.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (23). Meanwhile, students from Newton-Conover High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 13.1% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 40.1% of Newton Conover City Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 31.6% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 26.6% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Newton Conover City Schools had an average college readiness of 13% 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)
Discovery High School	62.5%	41.8%
Newton-Conover High School	19.3%	13.1%
Newton Conover City Schools	30.6%	22%