8 York schools rank among Ontario's top 10 in overall learning
School boards dismiss rankings, stating they don't improve learning
YorkRegion.com
By Chris Traber
Although four York Region high schools and four elementary schools were ranked among Ontario’s top 10 in the Fraser Institute’s annual school rankings, local education administrators don’t extend the survey much credibility.
The Report Card on Ontario’s Secondary Schools 2014, released Sunday, ranks 740 public, Catholic and some private secondary schools based on seven academic indicators using data from the annual provincewide tests of literacy and math managed by Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office.
The York Region District School Board does not consider the Fraser rankings added value, spokesperson Licinio Miguelo said.
“There’s no evidence the provincial rankings improve student learning,” he said. “It doesn’t serve a purpose for us. We have our own rich data and use our own ongoing assessments for school improvement purposes.”
The institute’s website provides parents and educators with objective information about school performance — information that’s hard to find anywhere else, Fraser Institute school performance studies director Peter Cowley said.
The site, he added, is the “go-to source for measuring academic performance and an invaluable resource for parents who are interested in their child’s education.”
Perceptions notwithstanding, local high schools cracking the top 10 out of 740 provincial counterparts included Unionville High School at second place with a 9.5 rating out of 10, a half-point improvement. Bayview Secondary School in Richmond Hill was ranked sixth at 9.2 tied with St. Therese Catholic High School, also in Richmond Hill.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau High School in Markham garnered a 9.1 ranking for eighth place.
The quartet of local elementary schools all tied for first place among 3,030 similar Ontario schools. Awarded perfect 10s were Unionville’s William Berczy Public School and St. Justin Martyr Catholic Elementary School along with Richmond Hill’s Silver Stream Public School and Christ the King Catholic Elementary School.
At the other end of the spectrum, the three lowest public school rankings belonged to Keswick’s Jersey at 3.8 and R.L. Graham with 3.7 and Sutton Public School at 3.7.
In the public high school category, the lowest regional scores went to Huron Heights in Newmarket at 5.2, Keswick High with a 4.3 ranking and Sutton at 2.9.
The Catholic board’s lowest scoring elementary schools were St. Bernadette’s in Sutton at 4.4, Good Shepherd with 4.3 in Newmarket and neighbouring St. Paul at 3.6.
The board’s bottom three secondary schools were St. Jean de Brebeuf in Woodbrdige at 6, Keswick’s Our Lady of the Lake at 5.7 and St. Joan of Arc in Maple at 5.6.
To review all rankings, visit compareschoolrankings.org.
SIDEBAR
The three lowest public school rankings belonged to Keswick’s Jersey at 3.8 and R.L. Graham with 3.7 and Sutton Public School at 3.7.
In the public high school category, the lowest regional scores went to Huron Heights in Newmarket at 5.2, Keswick High with a 4.3 ranking and Sutton at 2.9.
The Catholic board’s lowest scoring elementary schools were St. Bernadette’s in Sutton at 4.4, Good Shepherd with 4.3 in Newmarket and neighbouring St. Paul at 3.6.
