Hickory Sun

At Hickory City Schools, 81 out of 275 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 dropped to 29.5% compared to the previous school year, when 31.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Hickory Career Arts Magnet High School students stood out from schools in Hickory City Schools in reading, with almost 36.8% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (21). Meanwhile, students from Hickory High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 27.5% 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, 30.2% of Hickory City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 18.9% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 17.8% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Hickory City Schools had an average college readiness of 9.6% 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)
Hickory Career Arts Magnet High School	28.6%	36.8%
Hickory High School	31.5%	27.5%
Hickory City Schools	31.1%	29.5%