Massey tops among local schools
National think-tank releases annual education report card
Vincent Massey Secondary School was again the top locally ranked high school by a national thinktank that studies provincewide test scores.
Massey — which is home to the public school board’s enriched program for advanced or gifted students — was ranked 50th among 740 Ontario secondary schools.
The report card is issued annually by the Fraser Institute, which ranks anglophone, francophone, public and Catholic schools (as well as a small number of independent and First Nations schools) based on seven academic indicators from results of annual provincewide math and literacy tests.
Massey has repeated as the top local high school in the study over the last several years. It was ranked 42nd last year in the Fraser study.
“What this does is provide parents with information on how well an individual school is doing relative to all the others,” said Peter Cowley, director of school performance studies for the Fraser Institute. “It’s one piece of objective evidence that might help them make a better choice than if this data wasn’t there.”
The next area secondary school in the rankings for 2015-16 school year was St. Anne high school in Tecumseh at 57th.
Belle River high school was ranked 88th, up a bit from its previous five-year historic average of 104th.
Amherstburg’s General Amherst was at 104th, while Brennan and Tecumseh Vista were tied at 151st.
Cowley said critics of the annual ranking cite how it’s one narrow measurement, but he counters that it’s much more since the ranking includes a historic average of five years of previous rankings and overall assessment numbers so that parents can determine whether a school’s test scores have been improving or declining.
“This is more like a motion picture than a snapshot,” he said.
He called it “ironic” that parents or school officials who might be critical of the methods don’t demand a better system of school comparisons from Ontario’s Education Ministry if they don’t like the Fraser Institute’s findings.
“I agree there are quite a few other things that schools do which are important and don’t show up here,” Cowley said.
“Parents could get together and insist on new measures which are provided to the public so we could better compare one school to another. It hasn’t happened yet — and I have been waiting since 1999.”
He highlighted Leamington’s Cardinal Carter high school, which has continued to show improvement each year recently, as being a good example of a school that can improve regardless of any perceived challenges.
The school has identified roughly 30 per cent of its students as falling under a special needs classification, yet showed improved test scores each year since 2011.
The school’s ranking this year was 243rd, up from its five-year average of 335.
“The exciting thing is you can see this school comes out every year as an improving school,” Cowley said.
He also attempted to counter any arguments that schools in wealthier neighbourhoods produce better results than their lower-income counterparts. He said the Fraser Institute previously studied that theory which determined that only in 30 per cent of cases at most is parental income a factor in a school’s test results.
“That leaves 70 per cent not explainable,” he said. “The very purpose of public education is that every child can get the education they require to lead a happy and productive life. Nobody (involved) should say we can’t teach kids or they can’t perform because of their parental income level.
“If you are going to compare Massey ’s results to Cardinal Cardinal, go ahead, but this might not be useful. But you should compare a school’s history and look at are they going up, down or standing still.
“What is your school doing to improve?”
Visit compare school rankings. org for an easy-to-use table and complete rundown of all Ontario schools.
You should compare a school’s history and look at are they going up, down or standing still. What is your school doing to improve?