Hickory Sun

At Alexander County Schools, 73 out of 295 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 24.7% compared to the previous school year, when 29.8% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Alexander Early College students stood out from schools in Alexander County Schools in reading, with almost 51.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (17). Meanwhile, students from Alexander Central High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 21.4% 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, 34.2% of Alexander County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 23.7% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 16.9% 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	50%	51.5%
Alexander Central High School	27.2%	21.4%
Alexander County Schools	29.8%	24.7%