Fraser Institute Report card receives local coverage

The Daily News reviewed the findings of the Fraser Institutes annual report card on secondary schools, with an examination of the fate of the schools of the Northwest.

They presented their coverage on the always controversial report, as part of Tuesday’s paper.

FRASER INSTITUE GRADES SCHOOLS’ EFFORTS
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Page one

Three schools in the northwester part of the province were lauded by the Fraser Institute’s annual report card on secondary schools.

Bulkley Valley Christian School, Smithers Secondary and Burns Lake ranked among the 24 most significantly improved schools.

Meanwhile, Charles Hays Secondary and Prince Rupert Secondary both ranked below their five year average in the listing, coming in at 262 out of 291 and 254 out of 291 respectively.

The report card, which examines 291 private and public schools across B. C., used nine indicators to determine the rankings, including the average Grade 10 and Grade 12 provincial examination marks, percentage of Grade 10 and Grade 12 exams failed, difference between the school mark and examination mark in Grade 12 provincially examinable courses, difference between male and female students in Grade 12 English and Math, number of provincially examinable courses taken by Grade 12 students, graduation rate and delayed advancement rate.

“Unlike a simple snapshot, the report card shows parents and educators how each school has done in academics over a number of years, allowing them to judge the school’s ongoing performance,” said Peter Cowley, the Institute’s director of School Performance, Studies and co-author of the report card.

“Seeing how other schools have improved and what they have accomplished can make a useful contribution to each school’s efforts at on going improvement.”

At Charles Hays, the school received a ranking of 4.1 out of 10 this year, up from 3.8 last year but down from its historical five-year high of 6 in 2001.

The average exam mark for Grade 12 students on provincial exams was 64.3 per cent, a number that has been dropping consistently from 67.9 per cent in 2000.

The percentage of provincial exams failed increased from 13.4 per cent in 2005 to 17.8 per cent in 2006, while the graduation rate was 94.3 per cent with delayed advancement at 51.3 per cent.

At Prince Rupert Secondary, the school received a ranking of 4.4 out of 10 this year, down from 4.6 last year and its historical five-year high of 6.7 in 2002 and 2000.

The average exam mark for Grade 12 students on provincial exams was 69.9 the highest ranking for the school in the past five years.

The percentage of provincial exams failed increased from 13.5 per cent in 2005 to 19.7 per cent in 2006, while the graduation rate was 83.7 per cent with delayed advancement at 49.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Nisga’a Secondary School increased its ranking from 0 to one this year, with an average Grade 12 exam mark of 56.3 per cent. The percentage of provincial exams failed was up from 28.1 in 2005 to 44.9 in 2006, with the number of provincial exams taken per student at 0.8.

The graduation rate was 100 per cent in 2006, up from 96.5 per cent in 2005 and the delayed advancement rate was 55.3 per cent.