Fraser Report school report findings.
The sun shines down on Chimo Elementary School in Smiths Falls last month. The school scored 3.9 out of 10 according to a Fraser Institute report on Ontario’s elementary schools, released last month.
Page Taylor
The graders have become the graded in an annual report card that was released last month which ranks Ontario elementary schools, with St. John Elementary in Perth topping the field.
The Fraser Institute Report Card takes the EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) test scores from Grades 3 and 6 for each school and uses them as a basis to score their academic performance compared to other elementary schools across Ontario. The stated goal of the report is to help parents and students make a well-informed decision when choosing an education provider.
With overall scores based out of 10, Smiths Falls area schools ranked in the central range, with Montague Public School at 5.4, Duncan J. Schoular Public School at 3.5, and Chimo Elementary at 3.9. In Perth, the Stewart School comes in with a 5.4, North Elmsley Public School with a 5.2, and St. John Elementary with a formidable 8.0.
Last year, St. John had been ranked with an already solid 6.8, with a further improvement shown in 2012.
But parents shouldn't take the report statistics at face value when choosing schools. When asked to comment on the report, the UCDSB (Upper Canada District School Board) referred to a Feb. 19 press release. In that release, Ian Carswell, associate director of the UCDSB, noted that there are more facets to school merit than simply the EQAO test scores.
“The ranking of schools... is regarded by our staff as having limited use,” he is quoted as saying.
He went on to say that a school's ranking does not necessarily measure the quality of a child's individual education. “This may be a big event for the Fraser Institute, but it is not something that helps us or our parents to assess how well their child is doing in school or to determine ways to improve their learning.”
Page Taylor is a co-operative education student from St. John Catholic High School completing her placement with the EMC.