One trustee calls it "irrelevant" and the "stuff of nonsense," but last Monday's release of the Fraser Institute's annual elementary school rankings had some interesting results for several Royal City schools.
Of the 860 schools ranked by the Fraser Institute, seven New Westminster schools were assessed - Hume Park and Connaught Heights were not included because there wasn't enough data from those small schools - and the highest-ranked school was Richard McBride, which placed 170th.
Herbert Spencer was 262nd and Queen Elizabeth was 395th, as only three Royal City schools placed in the top half of the rankings.
Four New Westminster schools finished in the bottom half of the rankings, with Lord Kelvin coming in at 538, F.W. Howay at 577, Lord Tweedsmuir at 601 and John Robson at 781.
All schools are rated according to a 10point system, with McBride receiving a 7.5, all the way down to Robson's 3.7 rating.
Topping the B.C. list were several prominent private and Catholic schools.
Crofton House, St. George's, West Point Grey and York House in Vancouver, along with Surrey's Southridge and Richmond's St. Paul's, all received perfect 10 ratings, both for last year and for the cumulative five-year rankings.
Two other schools, Corpus Christi and Vancouver College, received perfect 10 ratings for last year, with their five-year ranking coming in at 9.8.
According to the authors of the report, Peter Cowley, Stephen Easton and Michael Thomas, the overall rankings are based on a set of 10 indicators, including average Foundation Skills Assessment scores in both Grade 4 and Grade 7.
"We have selected this set of indicators because they provide systematic insight into a school's performance," write the authors.
They also go on to say their report encourages schools to improve.
"The act of publicly rating and ranking schools attracts attention, and this can provide motivation," they write. "Schools that perform well or show consistent improvement are applauded. Poorly performing schools generate concern, as do those whose performance is deteriorating."
Those arguments don't hold water with longtime school trustee and current vicechair Michael Ewen.
"This is the stuff of nonsense," Ewen told The Record on Feb. 6. "I haven't even looked at it. It's becoming so irrelevant. Everybody from the premier to most teachers have discounted what is in the report.
"The Fraser Institute rankings have nothing to do with anything. I see no purpose whatsoever in what they've published. It's so silly."
The Fraser Institute rankings also provide a five-year ranking, with three New Westminster schools falling in the top half of the 725 schools ranked.
Herbert Spencer tops that list at 204, followed by McBride at 288 and Howay at 306. Coming in the bottom half of the five-year rankings are Robson at 428, Kelvin at 490, Tweedsmuir at 503 and Queen Elizabeth at 532.
Detailed reports on all 860 schools can be found at www.compareschoolrankings. org.
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