How did junior students in Durham Public Schools perform on reading portion of the ACT in 2022-23 school year?

Catherine Truitt North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction | North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website

By Durham Reporter

Dec 4, 2024

At Durham Public Schools, 734 out of 2,171 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 rose to 33.8% compared to the previous school year, when 32.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

J. D. Clement Early College High School students stood out from schools in Durham Public Schools in reading, with almost 59.3% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (48). Meanwhile, students from Durham's Performance Learning Center struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 9.4% 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, 38.5% of Durham Public Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 24.3% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 23.9% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Durham Public Schools had an average college readiness of 18.1% 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%.

Durham Public Schools ACT Performance by Subjects (2022-23)

Reading Performance Among Durham Public Schools' 11th-Graders on 2022-23 ACT

School	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
J. D. Clement Early College High School	62.1%	59.3%
Durham School of the Arts	55.9%	56.9%
Middle College High School @ DTCC	62%	55.6%
C. E. Jordan High School	38.4%	44.9%
Riverside High School	35.9%	38.5%
City of Medicine Academy	37.6%	37%
Ignite Online Academy	16.3%	34.5%
Hillside New Technology High School	25%	32.8%
The School for Creative Studies	28.4%	24.1%
Northern High School	18.1%	24%
Hillside High School	14.8%	13.8%
Southern School of Energy and Sustainabi	13.8%	10%
Durham's Performance Learning Center	5.7%	9.4%
Lakeview School	<5%	<5%
Durham Public Schools	32.1%	33.8%