South Asheville News

At Henderson County Schools, 191 out of 944 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 20.2% compared to the previous school year, when 22.8% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Henderson County Early College students stood out from schools in Henderson County Schools in math, with almost 55% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (22). Meanwhile, students from North Henderson High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 11.3% 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, 42.3% of Henderson County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 32.6% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 23.9% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Henderson County Schools had an average college readiness of 11.8% 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)
Henderson County Early College	56.1%	55%
Hendersonville High School	31.9%	30.4%
West Henderson High School	33.9%	24.8%
East Henderson High School	15.8%	13.2%
North Henderson High School	9%	11.3%
Henderson County Career Academy	5.9%	<5%
Henderson County Schools	22.8%	20.2%