South Triangle News

At Chatham County Schools, 316 out of 621 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 dropped to 50.9% compared to the previous school year, when 51% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Chatham School of Science & Engineering students stood out from schools in Chatham County Schools in English, with almost 78.9% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (15). Meanwhile, students from Jordan Matthews High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 36.9% were considered ready for college.

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, 44.1% of Chatham County Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 30.4% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 29.6% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Chatham County Schools had an average college readiness of 21.2% 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)
Chatham School of Science & Engineering	92%	78.9%
Northwood High School	64.3%	61.6%
Chatham Central High School	32.1%	37.5%
Jordan Matthews High School	27.8%	36.9%
SAGE Academy	0%	<5%
Chatham County Schools	51%	50.9%