EC North Carolina News

At Wayne County Public Schools, 129 out of 1,055 junior 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 dropped to 12.2% compared to the previous school year, when 13.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Wayne School of Engineering students stood out from schools in Wayne County Public Schools in math, with almost 55.3% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (26). Meanwhile, students from Southern Wayne High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 7.9% 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, 25.1% of Wayne County Public Schools 11th-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 13.2% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Wayne County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 5.8% 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)
Wayne School of Engineering	49.2%	55.3%
Wayne Early / Middle College High	46%	39.6%
Charles B. Aycock High School	15.6%	12.7%
Spring Creek High School	8.9%	12.1%
Rosewood High School	10.9%	9.1%
Southern Wayne High School	7.3%	7.9%
Eastern Wayne High School	7.2%	<5%
Goldsboro High School	<5%	<5%
Wayne County Public Schools	13.9%	12.2%