Fraser Institute News Release: Fraser Institute Report Card Spotlights Fastest Improving Elementary Schools in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Mar 1, 2015) - Across Ontario, 180 elementary schools showed significant improvement in their academic performance over the past five years, according to the Fraser Institute's annual school rankings released today.

This Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools 2015, ranks 3,037 public and Catholic schools (and a small number of private schools) based on nine academic indicators derived from the results of province-wide tests of reading, writing, and mathematics skills.

"Parents have repeatedly shown they value the ability to track the performance of their child's school and compare it to other schools. Our report card allows them to quickly and easily determine if their child's school is improving or worsening academically," said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies.

The data from the 2015 report card suggests that every school is capable of improvement regardless of the type of school, its location and despite the proportion of students with special needs or students in ESL programs.

For example, the fastest improving school in the province in 2014 - based on analysis of its results during the most recent five years - is Madoc Township School located in the eastern Ontario community of Madoc. Despite one-third of its Grade 6 class having special needs, Madoc Township's overall rating has steadily improved to 7.7 (out of 10) in 2014 from 1.2 in 2010.

"Educators at the 180 improving schools should be applauded for their success. Conversely, parents at declining schools should be asking the principal why the school's overall rating is falling," Cowley said.

"This is an important function of the Fraser Institute's report cards: The act of publicly rating and ranking schools attracts attention, and this can provide an incentive for all those connected with a school to find ways to improve."

Detailed results of all 3,037 schools can be found at www.compareschoolrankings.org. Visitors to the site can quickly and easily see how a school is doing over the last five years on any of the nine indicators of academic performance as well as the overall rating. Comparisons among schools are also easily made. The complete Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools 2015, is also available as a free pdf.

Report card author Peter Cowley will be in Toronto and available for media interviews on Sunday.

Fastest improving schools in the report card:

1. Madoc Township Public School (Madoc)

2. Princess Elizabeth Public School (London)

3. Aberdeen Public School (London)

4. Amherstview Public School (Amherstview)

5. St. Charles Garnier Catholic School (Toronto)

6. Worsley Elementary School (Wasaga Beach)

7. St. George's Public School (London)

8. Immaculate Conception Catholic School (Cornwall)

9. Eganville and District Public School (Eganville)

10. Prince of Wales Public School (St. Catharines)

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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 measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org.