Rocky Mount Today

At Nash County Public Schools, 155 out of 1,012 junior 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 15.3% compared to the previous school year, when 20% 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 reading, with almost 47.6% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (40). Meanwhile, students from Rocky Mount High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 9.1% 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, 19.4% of Nash County Public Schools 11th-graders met English 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	41.9%	47.6%
Southern Nash High School	21.1%	18.1%
CITI High School	14.3%	17.6%
Northern Nash High School	19.3%	11.3%
Nash Central High School	14.4%	10.5%
Rocky Mount High School	18.3%	9.1%
Tar River Academy	7.7%	<5%
Nash County Public Schools	20%	15.3%