Rowan News

At Rowan-Salisbury Schools, 309 out of 1,314 junior 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 23.5% compared to the previous school year, when 24.6% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Rowan County Early College students stood out from schools in Rowan-Salisbury Schools in English, with almost 57.1% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (32). Meanwhile, students from West Rowan High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 13.4% 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, 18.3% of Rowan-Salisbury Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 10.1% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 6.9% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Rowan-Salisbury Schools had an average college readiness of less than 5% 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)
Rowan County Early College	53.3%	57.1%
Carson High School	33.5%	34.7%
East Rowan High School	25.7%	24.3%
South Rowan High School	18.4%	23.5%
Salisbury High School	22.9%	18.3%
North Rowan High School	16.7%	14.2%
West Rowan High School	17.6%	13.4%
Henderson High School	<5%	<5%
Rowan-Salisbury Schools	24.6%	23.5%