Rocky Mount Today

At Nash County Public Schools, 196 out of 1,012 junior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools dropped to 19.4% compared to the previous school year, when 21.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

NRM Early College High School students stood out from schools in Nash County Public Schools in English, with almost 67.9% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (57). Meanwhile, students from Rocky Mount High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 12.1% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 15.3% of Nash County Public Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 11.2% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 8.1% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Nash County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 5.3% 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)
NRM Early College High School	53.5%	67.9%
Southern Nash High School	19.7%	19.7%
CITI High School	14.3%	17.6%
Northern Nash High School	21.2%	15.6%
Nash Central High School	16.5%	13.2%
Rocky Mount High School	17.1%	12.1%
Tar River Academy	<5%	<5%
Nash County Public Schools	21.1%	19.4%