VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/04/13 -- Across British Columbia, 46 elementary schools showed significant improvement in their academic performance over the past five years, according to the Fraser Institute's annual school rankings.
Three of the top 10 fastest-improving schools are located in Cranbrook (pop. 19,000).
"What are Cranbrook teachers doing that results in such significant improvement? The results they have achieved should be a beacon for educators across the province," said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies.
"This shows the value of the FSAs. Without standardized testing, we wouldn't know about success stories like Cranbrook."
The Report Card on B.C.'s Elementary Schools 2013 rates 853 public and independent elementary schools based on 10 academic indicators using data from the annual Foundation Skills Assessments (FSAs) administered for the B.C. Ministry of Education.
"By pinpointing the subject areas in which individual schools are improving or declining and how their academic performance compares to that of other B.C. schools over the past five years, our report helps educators prioritize learning challenges in their schools," Cowley said.
The report card also includes important information about each school's make-up, including parents' average income, the percentage of ESL students, and the percentage of special needs students.
The complete results for all 853 elementary schools will also be available at www.compareschoolrankings.org where visitors can compare individual schools with others based on their results over the last five years.
"Our report shows that all schools are capable of improvement, regardless of the personal or family challenges their students might face," Cowley said.
"We all want the best possible education for our children. To achieve this, every B.C. school should make improvement Job One."
Of the 20 B.C. elementary schools showing the fastest academic improvement over the past five years, 10 are public schools where the parental income is below average. At three of these schools, ESL students account for more than 33 per cent of school enrolment. The complete list follows.
Top 20 Fastest-Improving B.C. Elementary Schools
-- Cataline (Public), Williams Lake-- Steeples (Public), Cranbrook-- Iqra Islamic (Independent), Surrey-- Alexis Park (Public), Vernon-- Highlands (Public), Cranbrook-- T.M. Roberts (Public), Cranbrook-- Salt Spring (Public), Salt Spring Island-- Lady Grey (Public), Golden-- Upper Pine (Public), Fort St. John-- Southpointe (Independent), Delta-- Berkshire Park (Public), Surrey-- Our Lady of Sorrows (Independent), Vancouver-- Khalsa (Independent), Surrey-- McLeod Road (Public), Surrey-- Edgehill (Public), Powell River-- Elsie Roy (Public), Vancouver-- Mountainview Montessori (Public), Surrey-- Mount Cheam Christian (Independent), Chilliwack-- Latimer Road (Public), Surrey-- Nanaimo Christian (Independent), Nanaimo
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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 86 think-tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org.
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Contacts:
The Fraser Institute
Peter Cowley
Director of School Performance Studies
(604) 714-4556 or Cell: (604) 789-0475
peter.cowley@fraserinstitute.org
Twitter: @JPeterCowley
The Fraser Institute
Dean Pelkey
Director of Communications
(604) 714-4582
dean.pelkey@fraserinstitute.org
www.fraserinstitute.org
