EC North Carolina News

At Sampson County Schools, 121 out of 466 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 26% compared to the previous school year, when 21.8% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Sampson Early College High students stood out from schools in Sampson County Schools in reading, with almost 47.4% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (27). Meanwhile, students from Union High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 7.6% 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, 29.4% of Sampson County Schools 12th-graders met English 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	51.9%	47.4%
Midway High School	25%	31.6%
Hobbton High School	19.5%	29.1%
Lakewood High School	12.2%	18.6%
Union High School	<5%	7.6%
Sampson County Schools	21.8%	26%