Fraser Institute News Release: Fraser Institute ranks Alberta high schools, elementary schools in annual Report Cards

CALGARY, Alberta, June 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Fraser Institute today released its annual rankings of Alberta high schools and elementary schools, allowing parents to compare the academic performance of schools across the province.

“The Report Cards offer parents information they can’t easily get anywhere else, about how their child’s school performs and how it compares to other schools in Alberta,” said Angela MacLeod, a senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute.

This year, the Report Card on Alberta’s Elementary Schools ranks 852 public, Catholic, independent and charter schools based on eight academic indicators derived from provincewide test results.

Contrary to common misconceptions, the data suggest every school can improve regardless of type, location and student characteristics.

For example, Balwin School, a public school in Edmonton, is the fastest-improving elementary school in the province (rising from a score of zero out of 10 in 2014 to 4.5 in 2018) despite a 42.2 per cent English-as-a-second-language (ESL) population and 25.5 per cent of students with special needs.

This year’s Report Card on Alberta’s Secondary Schools ranks 262 public, independent, Catholic and charter schools based on nine academic indicators generated from Grade 12 provincewide testing, grade-to-grade transition and graduation rates.

Again, all schools are capable of improvement no matter the situation.

For example, Forest Lawn High School, a public school in Calgary, rose from 3.3 out of 10 in 2014 to 3.7 in 2018. Not a huge leap, but improvement nonetheless, despite a 25.5 per cent ESL population and 22.3 per cent of students with special needs (the highest specials needs percentage among improving high schools).

“We often hear excuses in Alberta that schools can’t improve academic performance because of the communities and students they serve, but the evidence suggests otherwise,” MacLeod said.

For the complete results on all ranked schools and to compare the performance of different schools, visit www.compareschoolrankings.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Angela MacLeod
Senior Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute
(403) 216-7175 ext. 427
[email protected]  

Mark Hasiuk
(604) 688-0221 ext. 517
[email protected]

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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