Fraser Institute News Release: Fraser Institute Ranks Academic Performance of 294 B.C. Secondary Schools, Spotlights Declining and Improving Schools

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 18, 2016) - More B.C. secondary schools have declining performances than improving scores, finds the annual ranking of secondary schools in the province released today by the Fraser Institute.

The Report Card on British Columbia's Secondary Schools 2016 rates 294 public and independent secondary schools based on seven academic indicators using student results from annual provincewide exams, grade-to-grade transition rates and graduation rates.

"Whether they are choosing a school or already have children enrolled, our rankings are the go-to source for parents who want to find out how a school is doing over time or when compared to other schools," said Peter Cowley, Director of School Performance Studies at the Fraser Institute.

In this year's report, 28 schools experienced declines in performance since the school year 2010/2011, while 21 schools have improved their performance.

Among those that improved, 17 are public schools located across the province: in Vanderhoof, Chetwynd, Terrace, Grand Forks, Summerland, Duncan and Campbell River, as well as in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

"No one has a monopoly on improvement. Public schools everywhere are showing improvement and that's good news." Cowley said.

There's even room for improvement among the top performing schools. For example Little Flower Academy, an independent school for girls in Vancouver, ranks third over the most recent five years, and yet it has also found ways to do even better, improving its overall rating from 9.7 in 2011 to 10 in 2015.

"For the schools with declining performance, turning that trend around should be a top priority for the teachers and parents of these schools," Cowley added.

Detailed results of all 294 schools can be found at www.compareschoolrankings.org. Visitors to the site can quickly and easily see how a school is doing over the past five years and compare results among schools. The complete Report Card on British Columbia's Secondary Schools 2016 is also available as a free pdf.

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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.