South North Carolina News

At Bladen County Schools, 28 out of 296 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 9.5% compared to the previous school year, when 10.8% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Bladen Early College students stood out from schools in Bladen County Schools in science, with almost 22.2% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (8). Meanwhile, students from East Bladen High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 7.3% 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, 18.9% of Bladen County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 14.9% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 5.7% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Bladen County 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)
Bladen Early College	29%	22.2%
West Bladen High School	12.1%	8.1%
East Bladen High School	<5%	7.3%
Bladen County Schools	10.8%	9.5%