Rocky Mount Today

At Wilson County Schools, 97 out of 635 junior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools dropped to 15.3% compared to the previous school year, when 15.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Wilson Early College Academy students stood out from schools in Wilson County Schools in science, with almost 41.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (22). Meanwhile, students from Beddingfield High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 5.1% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 32.1% of Wilson County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 29.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 14.5% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Wilson County Schools had an average college readiness of 8.5% 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)
Wilson Early College Academy	42.9%	41.5%
Wilson Academy of Applied Technology	33.3%	20%
Wilson Academy of Virtual Education	7.1%	20%
James Hunt High School	9.9%	15%
Fike High School	15.5%	13.5%
Beddingfield High School	7.3%	5.1%
Milton M. Daniels Learning Center	0%	<5%
Wilson County Schools	15.5%	15.3%