South Asheville News

At Henderson County Schools, 308 out of 944 junior 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 32.6% compared to the previous school year, when 34.3% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Henderson County Early College students stood out from schools in Henderson County Schools in reading, with almost 75% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (30). Meanwhile, students from Henderson County Career Academy struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 12.5% 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, 42.3% of Henderson County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 23.9% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 20.2% 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	75.6%	75%
Hendersonville High School	49.7%	48.8%
West Henderson High School	39.8%	33.1%
North Henderson High School	19.1%	24.8%
East Henderson High School	30%	23.6%
Henderson County Career Academy	11.8%	12.5%
Henderson County Schools	34.3%	32.6%