CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - April 01, 2017) - Some elementary schools in Alberta have experienced dramatic declines in performance over the past few years, while others -- even those with high levels of special needs and English second language students -- have improved, finds the Fraser Institute's annual Alberta elementary school rankings released today.
"Our annual report card takes stock of how schools perform year over year, so parents can quickly see if there are problems that should be corrected," said Peter Cowley, director of school performance studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report.
The Report Card on Alberta's Elementary Schools, 2017 ranks 790 public, separate, francophone, independent and charter schools based on seven academic indicators derived from provincewide test results.
While this year's report card shows 52 schools have improved their overall rating over the past four years, 31 schools have declined during the same period.
And some of the drops in performance are dramatic.
For example, Bassano public school -- located between Calgary and Medicine Hat -- had the fastest decline in the province falling from an overall rating of 6.9 out of 10 in 2012 to just 1.6 out of 10 in this year's report.
Calgary's St. Cyril Catholic school dropped from 6.8 to 2.6 over the same four-year period, while St. Albert's Father Jan school declined from 7.1 out of 10 to 4.7.
Among the 52 schools with improving results, many have above average numbers of special needs students or English Second Language (ESL) students.
Calgary's Our Lady of Peace Catholic school has 34.1 per cent ESL students and 16.6 per cent special needs students, yet its performance improved from 6.8 to 8.7 between 2012 and 2016.
And while Elmwood public school in Edmonton has 40.5 per cent special needs students it nevertheless improved its rating from 4.7 to 6.7.
"No one type of school has a monopoly on improvement, and successful schools like these that find ways to improve no matter what challenges their students face, can lead the way and share their best practices with lower performing schools serving similar students and communities," Cowley said.
For detailed results of all 790 schools and to see how a school performed over the past four years and compare it to other schools, visit www.compareschoolrankings.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Peter Cowley, Director, School Performance Studies (in Calgary)
Fraser Institute
Cell: (604) 789-0475
Email: peter.cowley@fraserinstitute.org
For more information, please contact:
Bryn Weese, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute
Office: 604-688-0221 ext. 589
Cell: 604-250-8076
Email: bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org
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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org
Contact Information:
Bryn Weese
Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute
Office: 604-688-0221 ext. 589
Cell: 604-250-8076
Email: bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org