Hickory Sun

At Alexander County Schools, 50 out of 295 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 16.9% compared to the previous school year, when 18.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Alexander Early College students stood out from schools in Alexander County Schools in math, with almost 39.4% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (13). Meanwhile, students from Alexander Central High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 14.1% 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, 34.2% of Alexander County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 24.7% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 23.7% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Alexander County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.8% 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)
Alexander Early College	39.5%	39.4%
Alexander Central High School	15.3%	14.1%
Alexander County Schools	18.1%	16.9%