Factors that Influence Student Learning
Reaching Higher NH is committed to understanding how family, community, and statewide factors impact learning and to explore how, given those factors and their influence, we can best support our students. There is considerable power in family and community factors on student outcomes in school, specifically a family’s income/economic status, and the overall educational attainment of a community in which the student lives. When students walk through their school door every day, they carry with them all their experiences – small and great: a nutritious breakfast, a sleepless night, a chronic illness, excitement over an after-school activity, anxiety over their family situation, and so much more.
A question we often hear is: why should we care about our schools and the broader context in which our students are learning – especially if we no longer have, or never had, children in NH’s public schools? The reality is, income and educational attainment are increasingly inextricably linked. Today, two out of three jobs demand a minimum of some education beyond high school – compared to the reverse, just fifty years ago. Educational attainment is now critical to career and, therefore, income advancement. The combination of overall income and educational attainment levels in a community play critical roles in that community’s economic trajectory – and, the overall long-term economic vitality of our state.
New Hampshire public schools ensure that our students become contributing, productive members of society. It is also one of the most important ways to ensure that the economic future of New Hampshire is strong. The students of today will drive the future vitality of our state, and thriving schools will help to build the essential knowledge and skills so critical to success in the 21st century.