Nantahala News

At Jackson County Public Schools, 113 out of 257 senior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools rose to 44% compared to the previous school year, when 42.4% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 36.6% of Jackson County Public Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 31.1% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 27.2% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Jackson County Public Schools had an average college readiness of 22% 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)
Smoky Mountain High School	39.1%	45.5%
Blue Ridge Early College	30%	<5%
Jackson County Early College	85.2%	>95%
Jackson Community School	7.7%	<5%
Jackson County Public Schools	42.4%	44%