Following on the heels of recently-released elementary school rankings, the Fraser Institute released its 2015 report card for B.C. high schools on Thursday.
The report from the right-wing think tank ranks 289 public and private B.C. high schools based on factors such as provincial exam results, graduation rates, and grade transition rates, using numbers from 2013-14 school year.
Dover Bay Secondary School ranked the highest of Nanaimo area schools and 85th in the overall provincial rankings, followed by independent school Nanaimo Christian at 114; Nanaimo District Secondary at 151; Wellington at 254; Woodlands at 270; Cedar Community at 272; and John Barsby at 274.
In 2014, the schools ranked 65, 125, 133, 245, 259 (Woodlands and Cedar) and 288 respectively.
The secondary school report, along with its elementary counterpart, are considered controversial, as some consider public versus private schools an unfair comparison, including Steve Rae, Nanaimo school board chairman.
“I know last year for example, Barsby rated right at the bottom of the Fraser Institute and to me that's frustrating because there are so many things that school offers that aren't rated by the Fraser Institute, so I don't put a lot of stock into what the Fraser Institute has to say,” said Rae.
Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies, said the report allows for 57 of the province's school boards to be compared.
“Ultimately, it is B.C.'s school boards that are responsible for the quality of the education services their schools provide,” Cowley said in a press release. “If schools in an individual board are not doing well, a fair question is: 'What is the school board doing about it?'”
Following on the heels of recently-released elementary school rankings, the Fraser Institute released its 2015 report card for B.C. high schools on Thursday.
The report from the right-wing think tank ranks 289 public and private B.C. high schools based on factors such as provincial exam results, graduation rates, and grade transition rates, using numbers from 2013-14 school year.
Dover Bay Secondary School ranked the highest of Nanaimo area schools and 85th in the overall provincial rankings, followed by independent school Nanaimo Christian at 114; Nanaimo District Secondary at 151; Wellington at 254; Woodlands at 270; Cedar Community at 272; and John Barsby at 274.
In 2014, the schools ranked 65, 125, 133, 245, 259 (Woodlands and Cedar) and 288 respectively.
The secondary school report, along with its elementary counterpart, are considered controversial, as some consider public versus private schools an unfair comparison, including Steve Rae, Nanaimo school board chairman.
“I know last year for example, Barsby rated right at the bottom of the Fraser Institute and to me that's frustrating because there are so many things that school offers that aren't rated by the Fraser Institute, so I don't put a lot of stock into what the Fraser Institute has to say,” said Rae.
Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies, said the report allows for 57 of the province's school boards to be compared.
“Ultimately, it is B.C.'s school boards that are responsible for the quality of the education services their schools provide,” Cowley said in a press release. “If schools in an individual board are not doing well, a fair question is: 'What is the school board doing about it?'”