High Country Times

At Mitchell County Schools, 54 out of 122 junior 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 44.3% compared to the previous school year, when 29.3% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Mayland Early College students stood out from schools in Mitchell County Schools in English, with almost 65% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (13). Meanwhile, students from Mitchell High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 40.2% 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, 35.2% of Mitchell County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 20.5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 17.2% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Mitchell County Schools had an average college readiness of 11.5% 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)
Mayland Early College	42.9%	65%
Mitchell High School	25.7%	40.2%
Mitchell County Schools	29.3%	44.3%