STUDIES IN EDUCATION POLICY June 2003 Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools 2003 Edition Peter Cowley and Stephen Easton Contents Introduction . 3 Key indicators of school performance . 5 Other indicators of school performance . 8 Notes . 10 Detailed school results . 11 Ranking the schools . 220 Appendix 1: Calculating the Overall rating out of 10 . 250 Appendix 2: Calculating the Value-added indicators . 252 About the authors . 254 Acknowledgments . 255 A FRASER INSTITUTE OCCASIONAL PAPER Studies in Education Policy are published periodically throughout the year by The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian economic and social research and educational organization. It has as its objective the redirection of public attention to the role of competitive markets in providing for the well-being of Canadians. Where markets work, the Institute’s interest lies in trying to discover prospects for improvement. 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ISSN 1492-1863 Studies in Education Policy (English print edition) ISSN 1707-2395 Studies in Education Policy (English online edition) Date of issue: June 2003 2 Introduction The Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools: 2003 picture of each school that is not easily available Edition (hereafter, Report Card) collects a variety of elsewhere. relevant, objective indicators of school performance into one, easily accessible public document so that The Report Card facilitates anyone can analyze and compare the performance of school improvement individual schools. By doing so, the Report Card assists parents when they choose a school for their children Certainly, the act of publicly rating and ranking and encourages and assists all those seeking to schools attracts attention. This attention can provide improve their schools. both a carrot and a stick. The results of poorly per- forming schools generate concern, as do those of The Report Card helps parents choose schools where performance is deteriorating. Schools that perform well or show consistent improvement are Where parents can choose among several schools for applauded. This inevitable attention provides an their children, the Report Card provides a valuable incentive for all those connected with a school to tool for making a decision. Because it makes compar- focus on student results. isons easy, it alerts parents to those nearby schools that appear to have more effective academic pro- However, the Report Card offers more than just incen- grams. Parents can also determine whether schools of tive. It includes a variety of indicators, each of which interest are improving over time. By first studying the reports results for an aspect of school performance Report Card, parents will be better prepared to ask rel- that may be improved. School administrators who are evant questions when they visit schools under consid- dedicated to their students’ academic success accept eration and speak with the staff. the Report Card as another source of opportunities for improvement. Of course, the choice of a school should not be made solely on the basis of a single source of information. Some schools do better than others Web sites maintained by Ontario’s Education Quality To improve a school, one must believe that improve- and Accountability Office (EQAO), the provincial ment is achievable. This Report Card, like other report ministry of education, and local school boards may cards from The Fraser Institute, provides evidence also provide useful information.1 Parents who already about what can be accomplished. It demonstrates clear- have a child enrolled at the school provide another ly that, even when we take into account factors such as point of view. the students’ family background-which some believe dictate the degree of academic success that students can Naturally, a sound academic program should be com- enjoy in school-some schools do better than others. plemented by effective programs in areas of school This finding confirms the results of research carried out activity not measured by the Report Card. in other countries.2 Indeed, it will come as no great sur- Nevertheless, the Report Card provides a detailed prise to experienced parents and educators that the 3 4 Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools — 2003 Edition data consistently suggest that what goes on in the not lost on the United Kingdom’s Department of schools makes a difference to academic results and that Education and Skills. Its Beacon Schools program3 some schools make a greater difference than others. identifies schools across the country that have demon- strated expertise in a wide variety of challenging Comparisons are at the heart of aspects of the management of schools and the teach- the improvement process ing and counselling of their students. By comparing a school’s latest results with those of earlier years, we can see if the school is improving. By Comparisons are at the heart of improvement: making comparing a school’s results with those of neighbour- comparisons among schools is made simpler and more ing schools or schools having similar school and stu- meaningful by the Report Card’s indicators, ratings, dent characteristics, we can identify more successful and rankings. schools and learn from them. Reference to overall provincial results places an individual school’s level of You can contribute to the development of the achievement in a broader context. Report Card There is great benefit in identifying schools that are The Report Card program benefits from the input of particularly effective. By studying the techniques used interested parties. We welcome your suggestions, com- in schools where students are successful, less effective ments, and criticisms. Please contact us via e-mail to: schools may find ways to improve. This advantage is [email protected]. Key indicators of school performance The foundation of the Report Card is an overall rating ance. Because they are based on annually generated of each school’s academic performance. We base our data, we can assess not only each school’s performance Overall rating out of 10 on the school’s performance on in a year but also its improvement or deterioration nine indicators:4 over time. (1) average level of achievement on the grade-3 Indicators of effective teaching EQAO5 assessment in reading; Average levels of achievement (2) average level of achievement on the grade-3 on EQAO assessments EQAO assessment in writing; These indicators-in the tables avg. level-show the average level of proficiency achieved by the school’s (3) average level of achievement on the grade-3 students on the uniform EQAO assessments in read- EQAO assessment in mathematics; ing, writing, and mathematics at the grade-3 and grade-6 levels. The EQAO converts the raw score (4) average level of achievement on the grade-6 on each test into a level of achievement from one to EQAO assessment in reading; four. In order to calculate the average level achieved by the students at a school on any given test, a (5) average level of achievement on the grade-6 numerical value was given to each level of achieve- EQAO assessment in writing; ment. Thus, Level one was given a value of 1 for purposes of determining the average; Level two, a (6) average level of achievement on the grade-6 value of 2; Level three, a value of 3; and Level four, EQAO assessment in mathematics; a value of 4. A value of 0 was given in those cases (7) the difference between male and female stu- where students completed the test but did not dents in their average levels of achievement demonstrate sufficient understanding to be assigned on the EQAO assessment in grade-6 reading; achievement Level one.