#51 - 10/01/07 10:26 AM
On testing and ranking
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Heather
Administrator
old hand
Registered: 07/20/07
Posts: 897
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(This article was written a few years ago and there have been some changes to the ranking information now provided to the F.I., however the main message of this piece still applies. Heather)
These pieces are all posted with permission given by Andrew Nikiforuk
REPORT CARD - WHAT MAKES AN EXCELLENT SCHOOL?
by Andrew Nikiforuk
Last summer the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank, rated 186 of
Alberta's high schools from best to worst based on the results of Grade 12 diploma
exams.
The academic "Report Card" predictably rankled the Alberta Teachers'
Association and ATA president Bauni Mackay quickly condemned it as "grossly
misinformed."
She also disparaged the rankings as mean-spirited: "Students, teachers and
parents should not be made to feel inadequate simply because some market
driven organization says lower exam results mean your school is not doing well."
Peter Cowley, co-author of the report, expected the uproar. In fact the
education policy analyst has heard it all before. When the institute
released its report on B.C. high schools in 1998 and again in 1999, the
British Columbia Teachers' Federation attacked the rankings as a "pseudo-scientific listing" that "ignored a multiplicity of factors."(you can find Alberta and B.C. school
rankings at http://www.fraserinstitute.ca)
Although federations don't like school rankings, the exercise is an
important one. But let's start with a caveat. Everyone knows, including
Cowley, that rankings don't tell the whole story. Provincial exam results,
for instance, simply don't measure the benefits of a good arts program or
the merits of citizenship training. Yet the central mission of a school is
academic achievement, which, unlike other school activities is measured by
diploma exams.
"We are limited to objective data currently available,"
explains Cowley.
"And just because we are not lookng at the whole school doesn't invalidate
what we have done with academic information."
The ranking is based on the five indicators; the average provincial mark,
the percentage of students who failed the exams, the difference between
exam and school marks, the graduation mark and the number of courses taken
per student.
The findings-long available to astute administrators-revealed some surprises.
Although some of the top schools were located in high-income
neighbourhoods, many were not. Alberta's third highest ranking school, for
example sit in the ranching community of Hanna.(Twelve of Alberta's top schools are situated in rural areass) B.C.'s ranking also placed many independent Christian private schools near the bottom-data that might confound parents paying extra
dollars for such schools.
In the B.C. school report, Cowley notes: "Once you get past the top 20
schools you find substantial variation between them academically,
regardless of neighbourhood." In other words, income is not the sole of
best predictor of a school's performance.
Now, there are several reasons why this admittedly imperfect ranking does some
good. For starters, it gives parents comparative information about school
academic performance. It also provokes healthy democratic debate. Much to the
ATA's consternation, most newspapers in Alberta reported Cowley's results. In
a democracy, good things only grow where there's lots of light.
The rankings can also act a a catalyst for school improvement. When a school
doesn't know where it stands in the educational scheme of things, it may
not know where it can go academically. Cowley was particularly impressed by
the number of administrators who phoned and asked about the results and
went through the numbers themselves.
Last but not least, all publicly owned resources need independent audits that
assess how well they are being managed. The more people who pay attention
to how well our schools are doing, the better schools will become.
The institute plans to add a socio-economic factor(the education level of
moms)to next year's ranking in Alberta, and to show academic trends over a
five-year period-criteria already used in B.C. school report. It also hopes
to rank schools in other provinces. Although teacher federations will rail,
parent will welcome the additional information.
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#129 - 10/24/07 06:42 PM
Re: On testing and ranking
[Re: Heather]
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Frank Gue
stranger
Registered: 09/03/07
Posts: 3
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Thanks for sending this, Heather. I saw it originally but it was great reading
it again.
I ranked a 25-school patch of Burlington primary schools for seven
years and found exactly what Peter did - family income had SOME
effect, yet one or two high-income schools were as low as the
lowest in the whole 25!
Investigations by other people in other Ontario school districts
result in EXACTLY the same pictures - different numbers,
same message.
A trained statistician, of course, would sigh wearily and ask:
"Waddauexpect?"
Cheers,
F.
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