Hickory Sun

At Caldwell County Schools, 235 out of 739 senior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools dropped to 31.8% compared to the previous school year, when 34.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Caldwell Early College students stood out from schools in Caldwell County Schools in English, with almost 71.7% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (66). Meanwhile, students from West Caldwell High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 15.8% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 29.2% of Caldwell County Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 17.9% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 14.5% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Caldwell County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.9% 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)
Caldwell Early College	68.2%	71.7%
Caldwell Applied Sciences Academy	41.9%	39.2%
South Caldwell High School	31%	29.2%
Hibriten High School	37.9%	26.8%
West Caldwell High School	16.5%	15.8%
Gateway School	<5%	<5%
Caldwell County Schools	34.5%	31.8%