Special Report
States

New Hampshire Ranks Fifth on Quality Counts Annual Report Card

September 03, 2019 1 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

K-12 Budget: $5.97 billion

New Hampshire ranked third on the Chance for Success Index, topping the rankings in family income, and reaching 3rd place in parental education levels.

That helped contribute to an overall ranking of fifth and a B grade.

But the state did have weaker performance on some indicators. For example, while New Hampshire ranked 13th overall in the finance category, it was 47th out of 49 states on funding equity.

The state outspends many others on education, ranking seventh in per-pupil spending, at $16,347 per student. Contrast that to Utah, which spends the lowest at $7,635 per student.

Among the Granite State’s most unusual education strategies are its efforts to rethink student testing.

In 2014, eight districts piloted a new competency-based assessment model, in which schools administer performance-based assessments throughout the year instead of a summative statewide assessment.

Building on that foundation, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has approved the state as one of four participants in the Every Student Succeeds Act’s Innovative Assessment pilot.

For more about New Hampshire’s Quality Counts score, click here.

Note: Enrollment is for the 2018-19 school year, and budget figure is for the 2019 fiscal year.

Research assistance from intern Héctor Alejandro Arzate.

In March 2024, Education Week announced the end of the Quality Counts report after 25 years of serving as a comprehensive K-12 education scorecard. In response to new challenges and a shifting landscape, we are refocusing our efforts on research and analysis to better serve the K-12 community. For more information, please go here for the full context or learn more about the EdWeek Research Center.

Events

School & District Management Webinar Squeeze More Learning Time Out of the School Day
Learn how to increase learning time for your students by identifying and minimizing classroom disruptions.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Improve Reading Comprehension: Three Tools for Working Memory Challenges
Discover three working memory workarounds to help your students improve reading comprehension and empower them on their reading journey.
Content provided by Solution Tree
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2026 Survey Results: How School Districts are Finding and Keeping Talent
Discover the latest K-12 hiring trends from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of job seekers and district HR professionals.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

States States Consider District Consolidations as Student Enrollment Drops
Rural educators say the decision to combine school districts is a matter of local control.
8 min read
First-grade student Brennen Marquardt, 6, looks out the bus window at Friess Lake Middle School on Sept. 4, 2018, the first year of operations for the newly consolidated Holy Hill district in Richfield, Wis. The district was the most recent to consolidate in Wisconsin, which is among the states where lawmakers are exploring ways to force or incentivize district mergers.
First-grade student Brennen Marquardt, 6, looks out the bus window at Friess Lake Middle School on Sept. 4, 2018, the first year of operations for the newly consolidated Holy Hill district in Richfield, Wis. The district was the most recent to consolidate in Wisconsin, which is among the states where lawmakers are exploring ways to force or incentivize district mergers.
John Ehlke/West Bend Daily News via AP
States State Reading Laws Focus on K-3. What About Older Students Who Struggle?
Should lawmakers push reading legislation to address the needs of students beyond elementary grades?
8 min read
Students attend Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H. on Oct. 29, 2025. Bow Memorial School is a middle school that has developed a systematic approach to addressing foundational reading gaps in middle school students.
Though states have put an emphasis on reading intervention, most don't specify how to help students beyond grade 3. Older students may need more support on vocabulary development, or understanding how word parts convey meaning. Middle school students learn about suffixes at Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H. on Oct. 29, 2025. The school has developed a systematic approach to addressing foundational reading gaps in grades 5-8.
Sophie Park for Education Week
States Are States Equipped to Track Students’ Paths From Classroom to Career?
Longitudinal data systems can answer critical questions about workforce priorities—if they're maintained.
4 min read
Photo of young female aircraft engineer apprentice at work.
E+
States 4 Education-Related Takeaways From This Week's Elections
How results from Tuesday could affect K-12 schools, and the trajectory of Trump's education policies.
5 min read
Democrat Jay Jones speaks on stage at an election night watch party for Democrat Abigail Spanberger after Jones was declared the winner of the Virginia attorney general's race Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va.
Democrat Jay Jones speaks on stage after he was declared the winner of the Virginia attorney general's race Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va. As attorney general, Jones could join multistate coalitions of Democratic state attorneys general suing the Trump administration over its education policies.
AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough