Listening to New Hampshire’s Education Professionals
New Hampshire’s educators, school staff, and school leaders experience our public education system every day. Their knowledge and perspectives provide an essential window into what is working, where challenges exist, and what students and schools need to thrive. Reaching Higher NH elevates educator voice through statewide surveys, research, conversations, and stories from schools and communities across New Hampshire—helping connect the experiences of education professionals with the public discussions and policy decisions that shape our schools.
Listening to educators is an important part of understanding and strengthening high-quality public education in New Hampshire. Through our educator surveys and initiatives including 5 Big Questions and Key Communities, Reaching Higher NH gathers and shares the perspectives of the people closest to teaching and learning. Their experiences help illuminate the opportunities and challenges facing New Hampshire public schools, bridge the gap between policy proposals and operational realities, and provide families, communities, and decision-makers with valuable context for understanding how decisions can affect students, educators, and schools.
What New Hampshire Educators Are Telling Us
Public education is shaped by decisions made at many levels, from our classrooms and school buildings to our local communities and the State House. But the effects of those decisions are ultimately experienced in schools, by the students, families, and educators who bring public education to life each day.
At Reaching Higher New Hampshire, we believe that understanding those experiences is essential to making thoughtful decisions about the future of public education. That is why we conduct the NH Educator Survey. This effort seeks understand what goes into a high-quality education and how we sustain a high standard of quality throughout the state. Read the reports:
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Screens and AI in NH Classrooms: Educators Share their Experiences
An article in Education Week earlier this year proclaimed: “The Ed-Tech Backlash Is Here.” Across the country, school districts, often at the behest of parents, are exploring ways to reduce student use of screens in classrooms. New York City is starting the school year with a tech freeze while the Education Department sorts out its AI policy, and the Los Angeles Unified School District has placed limits on screen time in classrooms, fully banning screens before second grade. In the summer of 2026, the NH Department of Education launched a task force to explore the role of screens in schools.
To get a pulse on this critical issue, Reaching Higher NH asked educators for their thoughts on screens and on AI as part of our 2026 Educator Survey. The nearly 400 educators who responded believe that students spend too much time on screens, and that their social skills in particular would improve if screen time were limited. Many worry, however, about the potential unintended consequences of blanket bans, particularly in a world where students will need to know how to use technology and will need to develop the skills to manage their relationship with technology as adults. And many draw a distinction between reducing unnecessary screen use and restricting technology that serves an instructional purpose.
Understand what’s working in schools — and why it matters
New Hampshire’s public schools are amongst the best in the nation. Unfortunately, much of the day-to-day work that makes that so goes unseen by our communities. 5 Big Questions seeks to open the school house door to spotlight the work being done, why it matters, and how we, as a broader NH community, can build upon the successes and innovations so ALL NH students can benefit.