CALGARY, Alberta, June 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Fraser Institute today released its Report Card on Alberta’s High Schools , the most easily accessible tool for parents to compare the academic performance of their children’s schools.
This year’s Report Card rates 262 public, independent, separate and charter schools based on eight academic indicators generated from Grade 12 provincewide testing, grade-to-grade transition and graduation rates.
“The Report Card gives parents information about their child’s school they won’t get anywhere else, and it’s a valuable tool for them to assess the quality of their child’s education,” said Peter Cowley, the Fraser Institute’s director of school performance studies.
This year, 41 schools suffered statistically significant declines in overall academic performance compared to just 24 schools that improved.
Fortunately, the data suggest that every school is capable of improvement regardless of school type, location and the students’ personal and family characteristics.
For example, Mallaig Community School, a bilingual public religious school northeast of Edmonton, was one of the fastest-improving schools in the province over the past four years, steadily climbing from a rating of 5 out of 10 in 2013 to 8.2 in 2017—despite nearly one quarter of its students having special needs. And Calgary Islamic, which has 99 per cent ESL students, improved its rating from 2 out of 10 to 7 out of 10 over the same period.
“Students are the ones who benefit when a school’s performance improves, but it’s most often only the parents who can effectively advocate for improvements,” Cowley said.
“Parents should use this Report Card every year to assess how their child’s school is doing, and when necessary, ask the principal how he or she plans to turn things around.”
For detailed results of all 262 schools, go to www.compareschoolrankings.org where you can quickly see how a school performed over the past five years and how it compares to other schools.
Ten fastest improving Alberta high schools from 2013 through 2017 (from the top)
| SCHOOL | CITY | AFFILIATION |
| Trochu Valley | Trochu | Public |
| Calgary Islamic | Calgary | Public |
| Mallaig | Mallaig | Public |
| David Thompson | Condor | Public |
| Innisfail | Innisfail | Public |
| Lillian Osborne | Edmonton | Public |
| Bishop McNally | Calgary | Separate |
| Roland Michener | Slave Lake | Public |
| Grimshaw | Grimshaw | Public |
| Olds Koinonia | Olds | Public |
MEDIA CONTACT : Peter Cowley, Director of School Performance Studies, Fraser Institute (in Calgary) Cell: (604) 789-0475 peter.cowley@fraserinstitute.org
Bryn Weese, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute Cell: (604) 250-8076 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
