Rocky Mount Today

At Edgecombe County Public Schools, 21 out of 309 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 dropped to 6.8% compared to the previous school year, when 8.7% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

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, 13.3% of Edgecombe County Public Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 11.7% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 7.1% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Edgecombe County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 9.9% 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)
Edgecombe Early College High	34.2%	32.6%
North Edgecombe High School	<5%	<5%
SouthWest Edgecombe High School	5.1%	<5%
Tarboro High School	7.2%	<5%
Edgecombe County Public Schools	8.7%	6.8%