EC North Carolina News

At Sampson County Schools, 137 out of 466 senior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools rose to 29.4% compared to the previous school year, when 25.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Sampson Early College High students stood out from schools in Sampson County Schools in English, with almost 64.9% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (37). Meanwhile, students from Union High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 7.6% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 26% of Sampson County Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 17.6% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 14.2% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Sampson County Schools had an average college readiness of 8.7% 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)
Sampson Early College High	66.7%	64.9%
Hobbton High School	19.5%	31.6%
Midway High School	29.9%	30.3%
Lakewood High School	18.3%	25.6%
Union High School	<5%	7.6%
Sampson County Schools	25.9%	29.4%