St. Ben's tops Fraser Institute's ranking of local high schools

St. Benedict Catholic school topped the local list in the Fraser Institute's annual survey ranking Ontario's high schools.

The Report Card on Ontario's Secondary Schools examines schools across the province and rates them on a scale out of 10. The results are based on seven factors gleaned from data found in provincewide tests of literacy and math skills. The survey also includes results from the last five years, giving an indication whether individual schools are improving or getting worse, at least according to the criteria used by the institute.

Data used for the results include Grade 9 math and literacy standardized tests, the percentage of students with results above the provincial average and the differences between the test results of male and female students.

Peter Cowley, co-author of the report, said five-year trends give parents a good idea of how their child's school is faring, rather than year-to-year results.

"Year-to-year comparisons are almost meaningless, because you don't know if it's part of a real change, or just random fluctuation from year to year," Cowley said. "The five years of data gives you a much better idea of where schools are going, than worrying about the difference between this year and last."

And Cowley said two schools in Greater Sudbury stand out as consistently trending upward: College Notre Dame – which has seen its score rise from 1.5 in 2010 to 3.4 last years – and Chelmsford Valley District Composite School, which has gone from 4.5 to 5.7.

"They started very low and they're still well below average,” he said. “But they are showing statistically significant improvement over the last five years. They're good examples of why we say, it doesn't matter where you start, it matters which direction you're going in."

Two schools showing significant declines are the high school in Espanola and Confederation in Val Caron.

"If I'm a parent, you cannot accept declining results,” Cowley said. “You have to tell people at the school that our kids can and should do better, year after year, than the previous class."

While schools located in areas with higher income levels than other areas consistently score 20-30 per cent higher, Cowley said there's still 70-80 per cent of the results not related to income.

And no matter where someone lives, he said parents have the right to expect their children will graduate having the skills they need to succeed.

"We believe, even with all its shortcomings, that the Fraser Institutes's report card appropriately measures ... the extent to which the kids have acquired the skills in math and literacy as measured by these two tests," he said.

Overall, schools in Sudbury rank below the provincial average, with a collective score of 4.6, compared to 6.0 for Ontario as a whole.

A release from the institute says the purpose of the report card on schools is to spur improvement.

“The act of publicly rating and ranking schools attracts attention, and this can provide motivation,” the release said. “Schools that perform well or show consistent improvement are applauded. Poorly performing schools generate concern, as do those whose performance is deteriorating.”

A complete copy of the report can be found at http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/ontario-secondary-school-rankings-2015.pdf.

Rankings of Sudbury high schools in 2014: (best to worst, out of 10)
St. Benedict (Catholic): 8.2
Marymount (Catholic): 7.6
Lockerby (Public): 7.3
Lo-Ellen Park (Public): 7.0
St. Charles (Catholic): 5.9
Bishop Alexander Carter (Catholic): 5.7
College Notre Dame (Catholic): 5.7
L'Horizon (Catholic): 5.0
Lively (Public): 4.9
Sudbury Secondary (Public): 4.7
Champlain (Catholic): 4.6
Lasalle (Public): 4.1
Confederation (Public): 3.5
Chelmsford Valley (Public): 3.4
Macdonald-Cartier (Public): 3.1
Sacré-Coeur (Catholic): 2.8
Hanmer (Public): 0.9