Cabarrus Today

At Stanly County Schools, 68 out of 594 junior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools dropped to 11.4% compared to the previous school year, when 15.2% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Stanly Early College High students stood out from schools in Stanly County Schools in science, with almost 50% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (16). Meanwhile, students from North Stanly High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 8.6% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 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 math scores revealed 14.6% 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	38.1%	50%
Stanly STEM Early College	29.2%	32.4%
Stanly County Virtual Education	<5%	12.5%
West Stanly High School	24.2%	10.7%
North Stanly High School	5.6%	8.6%
Albemarle High School	6.2%	<5%
South Stanly High School	9.2%	<5%
Stanly Academy Learning Center	<5%	<5%
Stanly County Schools	15.2%	11.4%