Rocky Mount Today

At Nash County Public Schools, 88 out of 1,034 senior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools rose to 8.5% compared to the previous school year, when 6.9% 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 math, with almost 28% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (26). Meanwhile, students from Northern Nash High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 6.5% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 21.9% of Nash County Public Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 20.5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 12.4% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Nash County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 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)
NRM Early College High School	37.1%	28%
Southern Nash High School	<5%	8.5%
Rocky Mount High School	6.4%	7.2%
Northern Nash High School	7.9%	6.5%
Tar River Academy	<5%	<5%
Nash Central High School	<5%	<5%
Nash County Public Schools	6.9%	8.5%