Stratham administrator outlines how New Hampshire state assessments are scored, stresses high participation and local interim testing

Jill Lizzier, the district’s Chief Officer for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, told the Stratham School Board that the New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System exists to satisfy federal accountability requirements and that Stratham’s schools are not identified as needing additional federal support.

Lizzier said the state assessment program is the vehicle New Hampshire uses to meet the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability framework and described how the state defines goals, measures achievement and reports results. “The reason we do state assessments is for the federal accountability system,” she said.

The presentation summarized which students take which tests, how the state scores results, and why interim assessments matter. Lizzier said grades 3–8 take the New Hampshire SAS English language arts (ELA) and math tests; grades 5 and 11 take science; and 11th graders take the SAT. She…