Cabarrus Today

At Stanly County Schools, 146 out of 509 senior 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 dropped to 28.7% compared to the previous school year, when 30% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Stanly STEM Early College students stood out from schools in Stanly County Schools in reading, with almost 56.5% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (13). Meanwhile, students from Albemarle High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 13.6% 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, 33.4% of Stanly County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 16.5% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 15.7% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Stanly County Schools had an average college readiness of 9.6% 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 STEM Early College	<5%	56.5%
Stanly Early College High	71.1%	54.8%
West Stanly High School	35.4%	36.2%
North Stanly High School	25%	20.8%
South Stanly High School	25.7%	20.2%
Albemarle High School	18.8%	13.6%
Stanly Academy Learning Center	<5%	<5%
Stanly County Schools	30%	28.7%