Rocky Mount Today

At Wilson County Schools, 95 out of 612 senior 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 rose to 15.5% compared to the previous school year, when 12.9% 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 38% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (19). Meanwhile, students from Beddingfield High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 6.5% 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, 28.8% of Wilson County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 27.1% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 12.9% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Wilson County Schools had an average college readiness of 8.2% 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	34%	38%
Wilson Academy of Applied Technology	18.4%	33.3%
Fike High School	12.2%	16%
James Hunt High School	12.9%	11.3%
Beddingfield High School	<5%	6.5%
Wilson County Schools	12.9%	15.5%