High Country Times

At Wilkes County Schools, 170 out of 557 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 dropped to 30.5% compared to the previous school year, when 34.1% 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 74.5% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (38). Meanwhile, students from North Wilkes High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 20.2% 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, 27.6% of Wilkes County Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 19.7% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 19% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Wilkes County Schools had an average college readiness of 12% 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	72.7%	74.5%
West Wilkes High School	33%	34.4%
Wilkes Central High School	36.4%	25%
East Wilkes High School	25.3%	24.8%
North Wilkes High School	20.3%	20.2%
Wilkes County Schools	34.1%	30.5%