High Country Times

At Wilkes County Schools, 208 out of 568 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 36.6% compared to the previous school year, when 29.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Wilkes Early College High School students stood out from schools in Wilkes County Schools in English, with almost 89.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (44). Meanwhile, students from Wilkes Central High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 27.1% 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, 30.5% of Wilkes County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 22.4% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 21.5% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Wilkes County Schools had an average college readiness of 11.4% 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)
Wilkes Early College High School	70.6%	89.8%
East Wilkes High School	23.7%	41.3%
West Wilkes High School	33.1%	34.2%
North Wilkes High School	20.6%	27.3%
Wilkes Central High School	23.7%	27.1%
Wilkes County Schools	29.2%	36.6%