Hickory Sun

At Newton Conover City Schools, 69 out of 185 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 rose to 37.3% compared to the previous school year, when 35.8% 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 68.8% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (33). Meanwhile, students from Newton-Conover High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 26.3% 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, 43.2% of Newton Conover City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 31.4% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 26.5% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Newton Conover City Schools had an average college readiness of 20.9% 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	75.9%	68.8%
Newton-Conover High School	17.8%	26.3%
Newton Conover City Schools	35.8%	37.3%