Rocky Mount Today

At Nash County Public Schools, 212 out of 1,034 senior 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 rose to 20.5% compared to the previous school year, when 15.6% 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 44.1% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (41). Meanwhile, students from Tar River Academy struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 8% 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, 21.9% of Nash County Public Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 12.4% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 8.5% 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	56.5%	44.1%
Southern Nash High School	14.2%	21.2%
Northern Nash High School	20.4%	19.2%
Rocky Mount High School	9.6%	18.6%
Nash Central High School	8.4%	14.3%
Tar River Academy	<5%	8%
Nash County Public Schools	15.6%	20.5%