On August 29, the Fraser Institute released its annual rankings of Ontario elementary schools, allowing parents to compare the academic performance of schools across the province.
"Our Report Cards offer parents information they can't easily get anywhere else, about how their child's school performs and how it compares to other schools in Ontario," said Peter Cowley, a Fraser Institute senior fellow.
This year, the Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools ranks 3021 public, Catholic, and independent schools based on nine academic indicators derived from provincewide test results.
And contrary to common misconceptions, the data suggest every school can improve regardless of type, location, and student characteristics.
For example, St. Paul, a catholic school in Thunder Bay, is one of the fastest improving elementary schools in the province, rising from a score of 4.1 out of 10 in 2017 to 9.6 in 2023.
Likewise, Stirling Public School is one of the fastest-improving schools (rising from 3.9 in 2017 to 8.6) even though 23.2 per cent of its students have special needs.
"It doesn't matter where a school is ranked, or what challenges its students may face. The evidence is clear all types of schools, located all over the province with different types of students, are all capable of improvement," Cowley said.
For the complete results on all ranked schools and to compare the performance of different schools, visit www.compareschoolrankings.org
