Calgary public schools are giving the province’s private institutions a run for their money when it comes to academic performance, according to the latest Fraser Institute Report Card on Alberta Elementary Schools released today.
Twenty-one of the 32 schools that make up the top five per cent of the annual report card on academic performance are from the Calgary region.
And the bulk of schools in this exclusive group are public.
Capitol Hill School, ranked ninth, was among nine Calgary Board of Education schools in the top five per cent this year.
“I liken that to being on the podium for the Olympics. We could fall down in that race and not make the podium, or it’s our lucky day and we’re on the podium,” said principal Carmen Roman, whose school offers a learning through the arts program.
Calgary’s Webber Academy, a private school, placed second behind Edmonton’s Mount Pleasant School after three years as the top elementary school in the province, according to the Fraser Institute.
While the number of Calgary-area schools scoring well on the annual rankings have remained fairly constant over the past three years, hovering between 21 and 22 of highest-ranking 33 schools, public schools have been quietly replacing some prominent private institutions high on the list.
A report card based on 2007 test results included 11 private schools with impressive rankings, compared with eight public schools and one charter school.
One year later, the number of private schools in the group had dropped to seven compared with 14 public schools and one charter.
In the most recent report card, Webber Academy, Strathcona-Tweedsmuir, Clear Water Academy, Rundle College and the Calgary French & International School were the only local private institutions at the top of the rankings.
But they were joined this year by 15 Calgary area public schools and one local charter school.
One of the reasons for this ongoing change could be the shift of high performers Masters’ Academy and Glenmore Christian. Both former private schools have been converted into alternative programs at public school boards.
Having strong educational choice where public school boards vie for students with charter and private schools could also be helping public schools to improve, said Wildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith.
“We have a lot of competition and choice in the education system in Alberta . . . all of that has created a very healthy level of innovation and competition,” said Smith.
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The annual report card on Alberta’s elementary schools is compiled by the Fraser Institute, a conservative think-tank that bases its rankings on Grade 3 and Grade 6 provincial achievement test results.
Webber Academy founder Neil Webber says he is more concerned with comparing his students’ marks with those of other private institutions, that are able to select their students, than tracking public school performance.
Webber added his school uses provincial achievement tests as a tool to help staff improve teaching techniques.
“It all boils down to teachers continually working to see areas they can improve in. They analyze the provincial results when they get them and look for the types of questions our students did better than others on (and ask): are we emphasizing all the things that need emphasizing,” said Webber.
Being able to drill down into the data and pick apart tests to see where students are struggling has been useful in helping adapt programming, said Lucy Miller, chief superintendent of the Calgary Catholic School District.
Calgary Catholic has three schools– St. Vincent de Paul, St. Jude and St. join of Arc schools — ranked in the top five per cent.
But the district also has one school — Holy Redeemer — which is tied for last place, according to the Fraser Institute.
Nine CBE schools round out Calgary’s contribution to the bottom 34 schools on the rankings.
Low test scores don’t tell the entire picture of what is happening in schools because the exams themselves only record a slice of what students are learning throughout the year, said Miller.
“They might not be successful in provincial achievement tests, but in other ways they might be gifted. They might be winning awards for music and awards for art and awards for sports, but that’s not measured in provincial testing,” Miller said.
Peter Cowley, director of student performance studies for the Fraser Institute, said comparisons between schools with similar student populations can highlight innovative instruction methods and opportunities for improvement.
This latest instalment of the annual rankings features a new indicator.
In the latest rankings, a number has been added following the parent income to indicate how much higher or lower on the Fraser Institute’s 10-point scale the school performed than would be expected given its demographics, Cowley said.
Blessed John XXIII, one of this year’s rising schools, scored 2.6-points higher out of 10 than the Fraser Institute would have expected, given its student population.
“When you look at the wealth of schools in the report card and say, How strong is the association between parental income and school success? You find it isn’t very strong at all,” said Cowley.
Alberta’s Education Minister doesn’t endorse the annual rankings.
“There’s no point in ranking schools. Each school deals with a different population,” said Education Minister Dave Hancock.
“It’s not a competition between schools. This isn’t a football team. Even football teams, they put schools that have similar size and similar recruiting prospects in the same category to compete against each other.”
Alberta Education uses a variety of factors in its accountability pillar to measure school performance beyond provincial achievement tests, said Hancock.
Test results are combined with information on dropout rates in schools, surveys from parents and students about how safe they feel their school is, ratings of parent involvement in schools and satisfaction with the education being provided, and input from parents and school staff about perceived improvements.
This data is then compiled at a district and school level to give a more overall picture of school performance, said Hancock.
“You can go into a school that has poor achievement results and find it is a very good school in terms of what the teachers and what the school is doing relative to helping their children be successful. You also have to recognize that all success is not measured exactly the same way,” Hancock said.
The future of the Fraser Institute Report Card on Alberta Elementary Schools may be in jeopardy if the province discontinues Grade 3 testing.
Hancock on the Fraser
Institute’s
report
Last year, MLAs voted to pass Motion 503, which suggested Alberta Education disband the Grade 3 tests and replace them with a diagnostic tool.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association has long called for the removal of the standardized tests.
Alberta Education officials have been in discussions about whether to replace the Grade 3 test with a diagnostic tool for Grade 2 or Grade 4 students, and if this new assessment would be required for every student, said Hancock.
A recent study on assessment written by University of Calgary education professor Charles Webber and other researchers recommended the province retain its standardized testing regimen.
A democratic society depends on a strong education system and “a provincial assessment program is essential to having a strong, effective education system,” said Charles Webber.
Hancock concedes there needs to be a balance between assessing and improving the education system and tools to help individual students.
“We’re spending $6.3 billion on education for the (kindergarten to Grade) 12 system. We have to have a way of assuring the public that money is being well spent and students are actually being educated,” said Hancock.
“I don’t have any problem getting rid of the PAT 3 tests, as long as we know what we’re going to. That’s the question that really needs to be resolved,” he added.
smcginnis@theherald. canwest.com
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