test scores Archives - Granite Grok

Illustration of a parent at the helm of a ship sailing through fog toward a distant red lighthouse. Two gauges show concerning metrics: 'READING 63%' and 'MATH 30%'. The parent leans forward thoughtfully, examining the instruments as the lighthouse beam illuminates the scene through the mist. The color palette uses deep navy blues, soft grays, and a warm red lighthouse accent, creating a hopeful yet questioning tone about educational outcomes.

UNDERWOOD: Are Your Kids’ Test Scores Relevant?

July 12, 2026 Jody Underwood

Here’s something you may not have known: About 88% of New Hampshire’s Class of 2025 graduated from high school. But when that same cohort was tested in Grade 11, only 63% demonstrated proficiency in reading and 30% in math. That’s quite a gap. It made me wonder: How are so many students graduating when so … Read more

With Test Scores Falling, Is Less School The Answer

August 12, 2023 Ray Cardello

Test scores in our public schools have been plummeting for years. The COVID Pandemic and remote learning definitely exacerbated the rate of decline. The number of students graduating from high school reading at the elementary school level is embarrassing but also harmful to the future of these students. We are failing our students and, therefore, … Read more

The Excellence Exodus Explains Low Scores in Public Schools

September 6, 2022 Op-Ed

We have low test scores for SAU34. Are your public school’s test scores taking a nose dive for the same reason? EXCELLENCE EXODUS???

Fixing schools: Is money really the issue?

September 26, 2018August 16, 2018 Ian Underwood

A phrase we heard a lot the other night at Andru Volinsky’s traveling show was ‘fix it’, as in: ‘Some states have fixed it’, ‘The legislature doesn’t have the political will to fix it’, and so on.

Which raises the question: Does something actually need to be fixed?

This needs to be asked, because whenever there is a conversation about reducing spending on government schools, we hear this argument: ‘New Hampshire’s schools are among the best in the nation’, the implication being that this is a result of our willingness to spend so much on them (about $15,300 per pupil, well above the national average of $11,800).

That doesn’t sound like something that needs to be fixed, does it?