Hickory Sun

At Newton Conover City Schools, 56 out of 177 junior 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 31.6% compared to the previous school year, when 39.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Discovery High School students stood out from schools in Newton Conover City Schools in reading, with almost 65.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (36). Meanwhile, students from Newton-Conover High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 16.4% 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, 40.1% of Newton Conover City Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 26.6% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 22% 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	75%	65.5%
Newton-Conover High School	26.9%	16.4%
Newton Conover City Schools	39.6%	31.6%