February 2014 : BRAMPTON —Private schools in Brampton and Mississauga scored top rankings in the annual Fraser Institute report card.
Khalsa Community School in Brampton and Khalsa School Malton, private Sikh schools, ranked with the highest listed in the Fraser Institute’s annual Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools.
The report, released today, ranks more than 3,000 public and Catholic schools as well as a small number of private schools in the province.
Rankings are based on results from Ontario’s annual Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) tests.
In ranking schools this year, the Fraser Institute noted students in some schools are able to succeed despite economic and personal challenges.
The independent research organization said the report shows that despite similar student characteristics, some schools thrive while others struggle.
Mississauga’s St. Timothy Catholic School was the Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board’s highest placed school with a rank of 39th.
Mississauga’s Miller’s Grove Public School, which ranked 118th, was the Peel District School Board’s highest-ranking school.
Holy Spirit Catholic School, which ranked 185th, was the Catholic board’s highest ranking Brampton school.
The Peel board’s highest ranking school in Brampton was Mount Royal Public School, which ranked 931st.
Plowman’s Park Public School was the Peel board’s lowest ranking school in Mississauga, at 2,465th. St. Clare Catholic School, ranked 2,385th, was the lowest ranked Catholic school in Mississauga.
Bishop Francis Allen, at 2,580th, was the lowest ranking Brampton school for the Catholic board. Robert J. Lee Public School, ranked 2,329, was the lowest ranked Peel board school in Brampton.
The Fraser Institute insists presenting the data in this form allows parents and school boards to compare academic performance and address questions about why one school is doing better than another.
“By pinpointing the subject areas where individual schools improve or decline, and by demonstrating how a school’s academic performance compares to other Ontario schools, our report helps educators help kids be more successful in the classroom,” said Peter Cowley, co-author of the report card.
The annual ranking report includes information about each school’s make-up— including the average parental income, the percentage of ESL students and the percentage of special needs students.
Local school boards and the EQAO have expressed opposition to the comparative ranking done by the institute. Board administrators have said there are other factors, beyond the test results used in the report, that should be considered when looking at school success rates.
School boards have argued ranking local schools solely on provincial test scores creates just a partial picture of academic performance levels.
The report can be viewed at www.fraserinstitute.org.