While the area’s students, teachers and administrators were enjoying their May long weekend, the Fraser Institute was making sure that there would be much to talk about when school resumes on Tuesday.
The always controversial elementary school report was released on Saturday morning, an online PDF file that takes data from the annual fundamental skills assessments and turns it into province wide rankings.
Based on the FSA’s from Grades four and seven, the institutes reports tend to heat up the emotions of both parents and educators when they are released. It’s a raw data stream that leaves parents and school officials looking for interpretation, a guide to find out if the numbers are the true reflection of the educational system of each city, or just a snapshot of a particularly good or bad day.
There are many that say that the findings should be discounted as they neglect to take into account the many extenuating factors that each classroom can hold, while others say that the results make for an important yardstick for educators and parents to work with to better the school environment.
Regardless, the release of the report does tend to get people talking and this years report will likely follow in the footsteps of past ones when it comes to the reaction generated.
Locally, the number crunching provides some interesting developments on the local scene when compared to previous Fraser Institute reports on Prince Rupert schools.
The top Prince Rupert school according to the data compiled and reviewed is Westview, which scored a 5.7 out of a possible 10 in the rankings. The west side school which has a grade four enrollment of 21 was .8 ahead of Lax Keen which rated a 4.9 and 1.3 points ahead of Pineridge school with a 4.4. The city’s independent school Annunciation, was fourth on the list at 3.7 out of 10, while Conrad rated a 2.6, Kanata a 2.4 and Roosevelt a 2.3.
Seal Cove and Port Edward did not appear on the rankings list in this report, perhaps due to not meeting the class size criteria for grades four and seven. No explanation was provided in the report for their absence in the study.
Overall in the Province, Rupert’s top school, Westview placed 601st of the 984 schools surveyed. The top positions overall, went to the usual schools of West Vancouver and other high income areas, which once again tended to dominate the upper reaches of the rankings, with Crofton House of Vancouver first among the top five schools to rate a 10.0 rating.
The report provided on line comes with a number of breakdowns, there is the overall list of schools in the province, the breakdown of the local school district which can be found on page 16 and for those with much time on their hands there is the 2.3 megabyte PDF of the entire report.
The best way to get the condensed version of the Rupert schools is to select the Prince Rupert rankings, there is a fair amount of raw information available in the charts, including English as a second language levels, special needs requirements and the last five year rankings of each school.
From those numbers we find that Roosevelt is by far the school in town still with the need of the most assistance. That school has the highest level of ESL enrollment and the largest special needs requirements to work with, factors that perhaps can impact on more than a ranking on a piece of paper.
Other schools in the district likewise have increasing levels of need, which no doubt has an impact on test results, school environment and such. The numbers provide a statistical snapshot of the make up of the Grade four classes of 2007, the bell weather year for the FSA’s analysis.
Whether the Fraser Institute’s findings are indeed the definitive word on the educational success rate locally is open to debate, it does provide an interesting snap shot however into how the controversial FSA tests can change the overall image of a school from year to year.
The Fundamental Skills Assessments have become one of the lightning rods of the educational system of late, (this very report is one of the others) with some educators calling for parents to withhold their children from the sessions, claiming that the tests don’t provide an overall view of the education of their child over the course of the year.
On the other side of that debate are those that say the system needs mileposts for any serious form of development to take place. The FSA’s they suggest provide benchmarks for schools on a year to year basis.
The findings as provided by the Fraser Institute will surely make education the topic of debate in the short term, while parent’s teacher and administrators digest the findings and try to figure out where to go from here.
Below we provide the key factors of the Institute’s review, for a wider look at the individual schools check each school’s rankings in the overall Rupert listings.
WESTVIEW (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 21
Ranking out of 10, 5.7
Overall ranking, 601 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 509 out of 877
ESL percentage, 8.2%
Special needs, 9.2%
French Immersion, 56.5%
LAX KEEN (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 22
Ranking out of 10, 4.9
Overall ranking, 756 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 721 out of 877
ESL percentage, 21.8%
Special needs, 13.4%
French Immersion, 0
PINERIDGE (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 18
Ranking out of 10, 4.4
Overall ranking, 822/984
Five year ranking Avg., 775 out of 877
ESL percentage, 24.2%
Special needs, 18.3%
French Immersion, 0
ANNUNCIATION (Independent)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 26
Ranking out of 10, 3.7
Overall ranking, 895 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 425 out of 877
ESL percentage, N/A
Special needs, N/A
French Immersion, 0
CONRAD (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 22
Ranking out of 10, 2.6
Overall ranking, 955 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 827 out of 877
ESL percentage, 29.1%
Special needs, 11.6%
French Immersion, 0
KANATA (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 26
Ranking out of 10, 2.4
Overall ranking, 959 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 849 out of 877
ESL percentage, 23.8%
Special needs, 9.3%
French Immersion, 0
ROOSEVELT (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 20
Ranking out of 10, 2.3
Overall ranking, 963 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 870 out of 877
ESL percentage, 50.8%
Special needs, 27.1%
French Immersion, 0
SEAL COVE (Public) AND PORT EDWARD (Public) SCHOOLS DID NOT APPEAR IN THE FRASER REPORT FINDINGS FOR 2006-07.
The always controversial elementary school report was released on Saturday morning, an online PDF file that takes data from the annual fundamental skills assessments and turns it into province wide rankings.
Based on the FSA’s from Grades four and seven, the institutes reports tend to heat up the emotions of both parents and educators when they are released. It’s a raw data stream that leaves parents and school officials looking for interpretation, a guide to find out if the numbers are the true reflection of the educational system of each city, or just a snapshot of a particularly good or bad day.
There are many that say that the findings should be discounted as they neglect to take into account the many extenuating factors that each classroom can hold, while others say that the results make for an important yardstick for educators and parents to work with to better the school environment.
Regardless, the release of the report does tend to get people talking and this years report will likely follow in the footsteps of past ones when it comes to the reaction generated.
Locally, the number crunching provides some interesting developments on the local scene when compared to previous Fraser Institute reports on Prince Rupert schools.
The top Prince Rupert school according to the data compiled and reviewed is Westview, which scored a 5.7 out of a possible 10 in the rankings. The west side school which has a grade four enrollment of 21 was .8 ahead of Lax Keen which rated a 4.9 and 1.3 points ahead of Pineridge school with a 4.4. The city’s independent school Annunciation, was fourth on the list at 3.7 out of 10, while Conrad rated a 2.6, Kanata a 2.4 and Roosevelt a 2.3.
Seal Cove and Port Edward did not appear on the rankings list in this report, perhaps due to not meeting the class size criteria for grades four and seven. No explanation was provided in the report for their absence in the study.
Overall in the Province, Rupert’s top school, Westview placed 601st of the 984 schools surveyed. The top positions overall, went to the usual schools of West Vancouver and other high income areas, which once again tended to dominate the upper reaches of the rankings, with Crofton House of Vancouver first among the top five schools to rate a 10.0 rating.
The report provided on line comes with a number of breakdowns, there is the overall list of schools in the province, the breakdown of the local school district which can be found on page 16 and for those with much time on their hands there is the 2.3 megabyte PDF of the entire report.
The best way to get the condensed version of the Rupert schools is to select the Prince Rupert rankings, there is a fair amount of raw information available in the charts, including English as a second language levels, special needs requirements and the last five year rankings of each school.
From those numbers we find that Roosevelt is by far the school in town still with the need of the most assistance. That school has the highest level of ESL enrollment and the largest special needs requirements to work with, factors that perhaps can impact on more than a ranking on a piece of paper.
Other schools in the district likewise have increasing levels of need, which no doubt has an impact on test results, school environment and such. The numbers provide a statistical snapshot of the make up of the Grade four classes of 2007, the bell weather year for the FSA’s analysis.
Whether the Fraser Institute’s findings are indeed the definitive word on the educational success rate locally is open to debate, it does provide an interesting snap shot however into how the controversial FSA tests can change the overall image of a school from year to year.
The Fundamental Skills Assessments have become one of the lightning rods of the educational system of late, (this very report is one of the others) with some educators calling for parents to withhold their children from the sessions, claiming that the tests don’t provide an overall view of the education of their child over the course of the year.
On the other side of that debate are those that say the system needs mileposts for any serious form of development to take place. The FSA’s they suggest provide benchmarks for schools on a year to year basis.
The findings as provided by the Fraser Institute will surely make education the topic of debate in the short term, while parent’s teacher and administrators digest the findings and try to figure out where to go from here.
Below we provide the key factors of the Institute’s review, for a wider look at the individual schools check each school’s rankings in the overall Rupert listings.
WESTVIEW (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 21
Ranking out of 10, 5.7
Overall ranking, 601 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 509 out of 877
ESL percentage, 8.2%
Special needs, 9.2%
French Immersion, 56.5%
LAX KEEN (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 22
Ranking out of 10, 4.9
Overall ranking, 756 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 721 out of 877
ESL percentage, 21.8%
Special needs, 13.4%
French Immersion, 0
PINERIDGE (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 18
Ranking out of 10, 4.4
Overall ranking, 822/984
Five year ranking Avg., 775 out of 877
ESL percentage, 24.2%
Special needs, 18.3%
French Immersion, 0
ANNUNCIATION (Independent)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 26
Ranking out of 10, 3.7
Overall ranking, 895 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 425 out of 877
ESL percentage, N/A
Special needs, N/A
French Immersion, 0
CONRAD (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 22
Ranking out of 10, 2.6
Overall ranking, 955 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 827 out of 877
ESL percentage, 29.1%
Special needs, 11.6%
French Immersion, 0
KANATA (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 26
Ranking out of 10, 2.4
Overall ranking, 959 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 849 out of 877
ESL percentage, 23.8%
Special needs, 9.3%
French Immersion, 0
ROOSEVELT (Public)
Enrollment in Grade Four: 20
Ranking out of 10, 2.3
Overall ranking, 963 out of 984
Five year ranking Avg., 870 out of 877
ESL percentage, 50.8%
Special needs, 27.1%
French Immersion, 0
SEAL COVE (Public) AND PORT EDWARD (Public) SCHOOLS DID NOT APPEAR IN THE FRASER REPORT FINDINGS FOR 2006-07.
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