This week, the New Hampshire Department of Education announced that schools are doing better academically! That’s fantastic. Or is it?
They reported that in 2023, 35 percent of 8th-graders tested proficient in math and 39 percent of 7th-graders tested proficient in math. This is in contrast to 45 percent proficiency in eighth-grade math and 47 percent proficiency in seventh-grade math in 2019.
The idea is that the pandemic lowered all scores and our students are finally rebounding.
But if we go back a few more years, and look at all of NH students (not just 7th and 8th grade), that picture tells another story.
Since NHEd just posted about math, let’s look at the orange line. You can see that since 2016, between 40 and 50 percent of students were performing below proficient on the state test. The scores did take a small dip after the pandemic, but nothing to write home about. And it is starting to change direction. That’s all correct.
But the math scores have been bad since at least 2016, and have always been below 50%. That means that only half of NH students understand math at a proficient level. Reading tells a similar story (blue line).
Perhaps in response to this, NHEd recently introduced a professional development course, Math Empowered, for teachers to learn how to teach students their multiplication tables.
Isn’t that what elementary teachers are supposed to study in their certification classes? But at least the state is trying to overcome this problem. They get credit for that.
More importantly for you, if you have a child in your district school, or are considering it, you should know how your district school is performing.
iReport is a great tool that NHEd provides for you to check this info. Pro tip: if you have iReport bookmarked, the location has changed and you need to update it.
Near the bottom of the iReport page, you can search for the school or district you’re interested in. I typed “manc” (see graphic below) and it gave me a choice of all the Manchester schools. You can also choose the entire district, which is what I did for this example.
Then select any year between 2018 and 2024 and click the View Report button.
You’ll see a page with lots of charts. Click on the 3rd tab at the top, Achievement.
There are 4 areas, though I’ll focus on just two of them. The upper right shows the percentage of kids performing at proficient in Reading (ELA), Math, and Science in light blue. Manchester isn’t doing so great.
That same chart compares Manchester to New Hampshire scores. NH is green. Manchester isn’t doing well there either.
The lower right chart shows Assessment Proficiency over the past 3 years. You can see they’re all about the same over these three years
Try it with your own school and see what you find out. Maybe your school performs well, maybe it doesn’t.
Most importantly, if you’re sending your children to your district school, make sure the school is a good fit. They may excel there, but they may also fall through the cracks.
Contact us if you would like additional guidance in using iReport, or for ideas on how to find another solution.
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