Weare board, staff and public dispute causes of lagging test scores as state testing rules shift

A public commenter told the Weare School Board on March 25 that the district’s standardized test scores “are lower than the statewide average” and urged the board to put academics first.

The comment came during public comment from a man identified in the meeting as Mister Kirk, who said the district’s strategic focus on socialization had led to lower academic performance and recommended longer or reorganized instructional time and ability grouping to raise test scores. “Holding back those ready, able, and willing to learn to allow their socialization deprive classmates to catch up is inherently unfair,” Kirk said.

District staff and board members responded during the meeting with a description of ongoing data work and instructional changes. Jacqueline Dawn (identified in the meeting as Jacqueline Dawn) described how the district is using iReady diagnostics, five‑year trend analysis and classroom-level “data chats” to target instruction and interventions. “Another layer that iReady actually suggests that we do is to then bring it to the student level and through something called the data chat,” Dawn said, describing plans to share those conversations with families.

Natasha, who presented the state testing update, said the New Hampshire Department of Education had previously signaled a move to require some grades to complete the New Hampshire SAS in a single day but then reversed course. “They are not requiring us to test in 1 day,” she said, adding the district will continue to administer SAS over multiple short sessions with breaks and allow additional sessions for students who need them.

Staff explained how different assessment products fit together and the timing of data release. Individual student SAS results become available to families soon after students finish testing, staff said, while school‑level aggregate results and any state comparisons are released later — typically after the testing window closes and often not until the fall for finalized accountability reports.

Board members stressed the need to look at multiple measures rather than a single test. “If we’re going to look at test results, let’s look at growth. Let’s look at achievement. Let’s look at iReady. Let’s look at New Hampshire SAS. Let’s look at all of it,” one board member said during the discussion.

The meeting included additional instructional details: how writing rubrics and scoring changes affected recent results, how the district is adjusting curriculum pacing so tested topics are taught before assessments, and the district’s plan to present iReady and Panorama (social‑emotional) findings at future board meetings so the board can review academic and climate data together.

Board members and staff also noted the limits of local control over statewide testing rules and federal subgroup reporting requirements, and said improving subgroup outcomes — not only overall averages — is necessary to change state accountability classifications.