High Country Times

At Wilkes County Schools, 173 out of 568 junior 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 30.5% compared to the previous school year, when 26.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Wilkes Early College High School students stood out from schools in Wilkes County Schools in reading, with almost 75.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (37). Meanwhile, students from Wilkes Central High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 23.5% 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, 36.6% of Wilkes County Schools 11th-graders met English 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	66.7%	75.5%
East Wilkes High School	19.3%	27.9%
West Wilkes High School	28.5%	27.4%
North Wilkes High School	19.8%	27.3%
Wilkes Central High School	23.1%	23.5%
Wilkes County Schools	26.6%	30.5%