Cabarrus Today

At Stanly County Schools, 87 out of 594 junior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools dropped to 14.6% compared to the previous school year, when 15.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Stanly Early College High students stood out from schools in Stanly County Schools in math, with almost 62.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (20). Meanwhile, students from North Stanly High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 7% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 30.3% of Stanly County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 22.7% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 11.4% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Stanly County Schools had an average college readiness of 6.1% 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)
Stanly Early College High	47.6%	62.5%
Stanly STEM Early College	29.2%	32.4%
West Stanly High School	25.5%	17.8%
South Stanly High School	10.2%	11.6%
North Stanly High School	<5%	7%
Albemarle High School	6.2%	<5%
Stanly County Virtual Education	<5%	<5%
Stanly Academy Learning Center	<5%	<5%
Stanly County Schools	15.9%	14.6%