EDMONTON – The Fraser Institute has released its annual ranking of elementary schools in Alberta for the 2012-2013 year.
Edmonton’s Mount Pleasant public school topped the list of 782 schools.
Each school is given a score out of a possible 10 points. Depending on what score they get, schooled are also ranked somewhere between one and 782. Their ratings and ranks from previous years are also provided for context.
Two Calgary schools also received a ranking of one: Webber Academy private school, and Clear Water Academy private school.
However, two Edmonton schools are among the three lowest ranked: Baldwin public school, and R. J. Scott public school.
Stratford and Windsor Park schools also made the top ten.
Click here to view the complete rankings.
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The rankings are based on nine academic indicators from results of the Provincial Achievement Tests (PAT) administered by Alberta Education and taken in Grades 3 and 6, as well as the personal and family characteristics of individual students.
In May 2013, the Alberta government announced it will be replacing the current PATs with a series of new computer-based tests called Student Learning Assessments.
READ MORE: Alberta gets rid of provincial achievement tests
The Edmonton Public School Board says it doesn’t believe in the rating and categorizing of schools in the way the Fraser Institute compiles its list.
In a news release, the Fraser Institute pointed out some success stories from this year’s findings.
It said that at Meyokumin, a public school in Edmonton, student test scores are high despite English being the second language of 77 per cent of students. The school had an overall rating of 9.2 for the 2012-2013 school year.
The average rating for all Alberta elementary schools was 6.0.
READ MORE: Province unveils 10 point plan to improve Alberta education
The news release also highlighted Raymond Elementary, a public school in the small town of Raymond, south of Lethbridge.
The school posted an overall rating of 7.6. Raymond Elementary also has an average parental income of $28,700, and, according the Fraser Institute’s report, 20.6 per cent of its students have special needs.
“This is why the Fraser Institute Report Card is the go-to source for measuring academic performance. Parents across Alberta should ask their principals why schools like Raymond do so well, and what can be learned to help other schools improve,” said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies.
High school rankings for the most recent years available can be found here.
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