Press Release
February 11, 2025
Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342
New Hampshire Ranked 27th in Math Recovery and 14th in Reading Between 2019 and 2024
Average student achievement in New Hampshire remains almost half of a grade level below 2019 levels in math and just over one third of a grade level in reading.
A sharp rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10% of a school year) from 13% of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 24% in 2023 is slowing the recovery in many districts in New Hampshire.
(February 11, 2025) In its third year of reporting on the pace of academic recovery measures in districts nationwide, the Education Recovery Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.
The latest report also provides the first high resolution picture of where New Hampshire students’ academic recovery stood in Spring 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September. While the National Assessment of Educational Progress described changes in average achievement by state, we combine those scores with district scores on state assessments to describe the change in local communities throughout New Hampshire. Here’s what we found:
- New Hampshire ranked 27th among states in terms of recovery in math and 14th in reading between 2019 and 2024.
- Average student achievement in New Hampshire remains almost half of a grade level below 2019 levels in math (.47 grade equivalents) and just over one third of a grade level in reading (.36). In other words, the loss in math achievement in New Hampshire is equivalent to 47 percent of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8.
- 88 percent of students are in districts whose average math achievement in 2024 remained below their own 2019 levels and 88 percent of students are in a district whose average reading in 2024 remained below 2019 levels. The average student in some districts, such as Manchester, Merrimack, and Milford, remains more than a full grade equivalent below their 2019 mean achievement in math.
- Still, there are bright spots: mean achievement for students in Governor Wentworth has fully recovered exceeding 2019 levels in math by 0.15 grade equivalents. And some districts, such as Oyster River, Hudson, and Contoocook Valley, are now scoring above their 2019 means in reading.
- New Hampshire received $544 million in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—or roughly $3,000 per student (which is less than the national average of $3,700 per student.) Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.
The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many New Hampshire schools. Even without federal relief dollars, states could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown effective, such as tutoring and summer learning. State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools to redouble efforts on the shared challenge of reducing student absenteeism.
One of the project leaders, Professor Tom Kane from Harvard, said: “Unless state and local leaders step up now, the achievement losses will be the longest lasting– and most inequitable– legacy of the pandemic.”
For the national press release and findings click here.
About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University
The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.
Contact: Sam Stockwell, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0342