South Triangle News

At Harnett County Schools, 177 out of 1,272 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 13.9% compared to the previous school year, when 16.3% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Harnett County Early College students stood out from schools in Harnett County Schools in science, with almost 43.5% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (10). Meanwhile, students from Triton High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 9.5% 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, 32.3% of Harnett County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 29.6% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 16.3% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Harnett County Schools had an average college readiness of 8.7% 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)
Harnett County Early College	33.3%	43.5%
Overhills High School	21.2%	17.6%
Western Harnett High School	13.4%	13.7%
Harnett Central High School	17.1%	12.1%
Triton High School	11.2%	9.5%
STAR Academy	<5%	<5%
Harnett Virtual Academy	10.7%	<5%
Harnett County Schools	16.3%	13.9%