Concord vs. Bedford and Bow (Manchester, Londonderry: top school, college, law)

[maestramommy]

My SIL visited Concord a while back and she said it's a lot like her town in PA. There's a town center, a lot of things within walking distance. That's a huge plus in our minds. I'm assuming it's still within commuting distance to Manchester.

Does anyone know how the schools in Concord compare to Bow and Bedford? Also, any other significant differences between these towns? I know Concord gets suggested on these boards, but I can't remember why. Thanks!

ETA: just did a quick comparison on greatschools, and Concord falls well below Bedford, Bow, and in some cases Londonderry as well. This is just based on test scores, but is there any truth to these numbers?

BTW, I did a search on Concord and read all the threads with Concord in the subject line.

[thedudewiththeplan]

I grew up in Bedford and was in school there from pre-school through 3rd grade. Though I am comparing it to a Georgia school district, I will say that when I started 4th grade in Fayette County GA, they were teaching stuff I learned in 2nd grade in Bedford. I would say Bedford is a pretty top notch school system.

[buck naked]

"ETA: just did a quick comparison on greatschools, and Concord falls well below Bedford, Bow, and in some cases Londonderry as well. This is just based on test scores, but is there any truth to these numbers?"

every town ranks their schools with different methods. It's easy to skew numbers. I have found, that for the most part, all the schools are equal in education statewide.

[buck naked]

The law requires that the NH Department of Education rank order the school communities in terms of performance on the statewide NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) tests.


while some schools may teach perfectly to the test, it does not exactly mean those kids are getting a better education than kids in another district.

[buck naked]

some schools are dropping their ranking systems altogether, for they agree the number system is not fair.

May 26, 2008 HOPKINTON, N.H.—A New Hampshire high school is looking to drop rankings from students' transcripts, saying it might be more of a problem than a help for students trying to get into college.


At Hopkinton High School, which typically graduates small classes between 70 and 100 students, a grade point average of 88 and a rank of 32 could be a disadvantage for someone applying to a top school, Principal Steve Chamberlin said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2008/05/26/nh_high_school_ (broken link)
may_do_away_with_rankings/

[maestramommy]

Originally Posted by buck naked

The law requires that the NH Department of Education rank order the school communities in terms of performance on the statewide NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) tests.


while some schools may teach perfectly to the test, it does not exactly mean those kids are getting a better education than kids in another
district.

I wondered about the NECAP. Is it a new exam? The reason I ask, some of the top districts like Bedford and Bow had pretty dismal scores (33% showed competence or higher) until you looked the state average, 28% It made me wonder what kind of test this is.

Buck, the link to news article isn't working, sorry!

We have a booklet of state by state report cards put out by the U.S Chamber of Commerce. I think I got the link here. Anyway, it gives NH an A for achievement, but an F for rigor of curriculum standards, meaning not that the standards aren't high enough, but that they're not spelled out rigorously enough. It took a while for me to understand what they really meant by that. I guess in their opinion NH's students are learning very well, but the official standards are not systematic or clearly defined enough.

[buck naked]

sorry about the link - it appears to have split in half

try this:

NH high school may do away with rankings - Boston.com (http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2008/05/26/nh_high_school_may_do_away_with_rankings/ - broken link)