The Fraser Institute released its annual rankings of Alberta high schools and 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 Alberta," said Peter Cowley, a Fraser Institute senior fellow.
This year, the Report Card on Alberta's Elementary Schools ranks 863 public, Catholic, independent and charter schools based on seven 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, River Heights, a public school in Medicine Hat, is the fastest-improving elementary school in the province, rising from a score of 1.7 out of 10 in 2015 to 7.5 in 2019.
Likewise, Cambrian Heights, a public school in Calgary, is the 5th fastest-improving school (rising from 5.5 to 8.2 over the same period), even though 32.4 per cent of its students are English Second Language (ESL) and 31.5 per cent have special needs.
This year's Report Card on Alberta's Secondary Schools ranks 253 public, independent, Catholic and charter schools based on eight academic indicators generated from Grade 12 provincewide testing, grade-to-grade transition and graduation rates.
Of the 17 secondary schools with improving performance (16 schools showed declining performance) nine are located in Edmonton. One of the fastest-improvers, J. Percy Page in Edmonton, increased its rating from 2.7 out of 10 in 2015 to 4.9 last year, and 34.3 per cent of its students are ESL.
"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 capable of improvement," Cowley said.
