North Triangle News

At Person County Schools, 64 out of 258 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 remained the same as the previous school year.

Person County Schools Virtual Academy students stood out from schools in Person County Schools in reading, with almost 33.3% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (5). Meanwhile, students from Person 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, 34.1% of Person County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 16.7% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 14.8% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Person County Schools had an average college readiness of 8.9% 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)
Person County Schools Virtual Academy	27.3%	33.3%
Person Early College Innovation & Ldrshp	50%	30.8%
Person High School	21.4%	23.5%
Person County Schools	24.8%	24.8%