Chapel Hill Review

At Orange County Schools, 235 out of 532 senior 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 rose to 44.2% compared to the previous school year, when 39.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Orange High School students stood out from schools in Orange County Schools in reading, with almost 46.7% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (134). Meanwhile, students from Cedar Ridge High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and 41.8% 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, 49.6% of Orange County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 35.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 33.8% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Orange County Schools had an average college readiness of 24.6% 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)
Orange High School	34%	46.7%
Cedar Ridge High School	49.5%	41.8%
Partnership Academy	<5%	<5%
Orange County Schools	39.9%	44.2%