Yadkin Valley News

At Surry County Schools, 175 out of 536 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 34.8% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Surry Early College students stood out from schools in Surry County Schools in reading, with almost 62.3% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (38). Meanwhile, students from North Surry High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 26.7% 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, 41.6% of Surry County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 23.3% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 20.7% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Surry County Schools had an average college readiness of 12.3% 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)
Surry Early College	61.1%	62.3%
Surry Online Magnet School	15.8%	36.4%
East Surry High School	46.2%	31.3%
Surry Central High School	28.2%	28%
North Surry High School	23%	26.7%
Surry County Schools	34.8%	32.6%