An annual ranking of Ontario elementary schools is now available, allowing the academic comparison of schools across the province.
“Our Report Cards offer parents information they can’t easily get anywhere else, about how their child’s school performs and how it compares to other schools in Ontario,” said Peter Cowley, a Fraser Institute senior fellow.
The Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools ranks 2,975 public, Catholic, and independent schools. The Fraser Institute uses results from provincewide tests and ranks school performance based on nine academic indicators that look at reading, math, and writing test results.
“It doesn’t matter where a school is ranked, or what challenges its students may face. The evidence is clear—all types of schools, located all over the province with different types of students, are all capable of improvement,” Mr. Cowley said.
The Fraser Institute noted that École élémentaire Félix-Leclerc in Etobicoke has shown major improvement. In 2016, the school scored 4.3 out of 10, while in the most recent report, it ranked 9.6.
Fergus’s St. Joseph Catholic School, where 32 percent of students have special needs, also improved its ranking to 8.5, up from 4.4 in 2016.
Some of the province’s top-ranked schools continue to hold their high standings, including Toronto’s Avondale Alternative, which has ranked 10 for the last five Fraser Institute reports.
Hawthorn Public School in Mississauga also earned a score of 10, an improvement from the 8.4 it received in the previous report in 2019. The Fraser Institute said it does not have results for 2020 or 2021, when most provinces paused their testing programs during the pandemic.
Other schools earning a 10 include Ottawa’s Ahlul Bayt Islamic, Mississauga’s Khalsa School Malton, Cumberland’s École élémentaire catholique Saint-Guillaume, St. Ann Catholic Elementary in Fenwick, the International School of Cambridge, Ahmadiyya Elementary in Mississauga, and, in Toronto, St. Michael’s Choir School, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Northmount School, King George Junior Public School, and École élémentaire Laure-Rièse.
Not all schools are included in the rankings, the Fraser Institute said. The academic information is based on tests given in Grade 3 and Grade 6. Some school districts have middle or junior high schools, and as a result their elementary schools don’t include Grade 6 and were not included in the comparison. Schools with fewer than 10 students in Grade 3 or Grade 6 were also excluded.
