Fraser Institute News Release: Fraser Institute Rankings Spotlight Fastest Improving Secondary Schools in Ontario

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - February 28, 2016) - Across Ontario, 68 secondary schools showed significant improvement in academic performance over the past five years, according to the Fraser Institute's annual school rankings released today.

The Report Card on Ontario's Secondary Schools 2016 ranks 676 public, Catholic, and independent secondary schools based on seven academic indicators using data from the annual province wide tests of literacy and math skills.

"Parents value the ability to track the performance of their child's school, compare it to other schools, and easily determine if the school is improving or worsening academically," said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies. 

Among the improvers are schools from every sector, located in rural towns and big cities, and serving students with various challenges. 

For example, the fastest improving school in the province-based on results from the past five years-is Deslauriers, a French-language public school in Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa. The school's overall rating has more than doubled to 6.6 (out of 10) in 2015 from 3.1 in 2011.

Another school that showed marked improvement was Goderich District. Students with special needs account for one-third of the student body, yet the school posted an overall rating of 5.9 in 2015, up from 4.3 in 2011.

"It doesn't matter where a school is located or what obstacles its students face, the results consistently show that improvement is possible," Cowley said.

"Educators at the 68 improving schools should be applauded for their success. Conversely, parents at declining schools should ask the principal what's being done to reverse the trend."

For detailed results of all 676 schools, go to www.compareschoolrankings.org. Visitors to the site can quickly and easily see how a school is doing over the last five years on any of the indicators of academic performance, as well as the overall rating. Comparisons among schools are also easily made.

Report card author Peter Cowley will be in Toronto and available for media interviews on Sunday and Monday.

Fastest improving schools in the report card:

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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