Out of three elementary schools in the Olds and Bowden area ranked by the Fraser Institute this year for their academic performance, Olds Koinonia Christian School (OKCS) received the highest standing.
Out of three elementary schools in the Olds and Bowden area ranked by the Fraser Institute this year for their academic performance, Olds Koinonia Christian School (OKCS) received the highest standing.
The school received a ranking of 42 out of 782 elementary schools measured across the province in 2013 in the institute’s 2014 Report Card on Alberta’s Elementary Schools.
Last year, OKCS was ranked 52 out of 659 schools in Alberta and its average standing for the past five years was 88 out of 520 schools.
The rankings are based on test marks for Grade 3 students in the areas of language arts and math and test marks for Grade 6 students in the areas of language arts, math, science and social studies.
For 2013, OKCS’s Grade 3 test mark for language arts was 79.2 per cent, up from 75.7 per cent in 2012 and in Grade 3 math, the school’s test mark was 85.8 per cent, compared to 78.5 per cent the previous year.
The Grade 6 average test mark in language arts in 2013 matched 2012’s mark at 73.1 per cent, while marks in math, social studies and science all dipped last year compared to the year before.
The school’s overall rating out of 10 for 2013 was 8.5, up from 8.2 in 2012.
Principal Dwayne Brown, who hadn’t yet looked at the rankings when contacted by the Olds Albertan, said he’s pleased with his school’s performance in the rankings.
Ultimately, however, the institute’s study doesn’t hold much weight for him.
"It’s always nice to see that your school is doing well," he said. "But it’s not something that I sit there waiting for the rankings to come out to see where we are and base our program on something like that.
"We try to do our best all the time. If some success comes as a result, that’s a good thing."
Brown added the school does not do any "special" preparation for the tests used for the institute’s rankings.
"Teachers teach their curriculum, they try to meet the outcomes as are mentioned in the Alberta curriculum and they don’t really teach to a specific test."
Some teachers like the standardized tests to determine how students are doing academically, Brown said, but since the school is small, the results can change drastically from year to year depending on whether or not a strong group of students is going through the school at any particular time.
The results of the tests are really only examined to see if there are areas where better instruction is needed, he added.
"Basically it’s one of those things where you look at them and you go, OK, that’s good or we’ve got some areas that we need to focus on."
Right now, the school is focusing on literacy, building relationships and student engagement, Brown said.
The other Olds school included in the institute’s ranking is Holy Trinity Catholic School, which placed 734 out of 782 schools.
This is the first time the school has been included in the rankings and its overall rating out of 10 was 2.9 for 2013.
The Bowden Grandview School received a ranking of 580 out of 782 schools and its overall rating out of 10 in 2013 was 4.9, up from 4.6 the previous year.
In 2012, the school’s ranking was 534 out of 659 schools and its average ranking over the last five years was 447 out of 520.
The school experienced improved average test marks in Grade 3 language arts and math in 2013 compared to 2012, but there were decreases in test scores in the four Grade 6 test areas.
Peter Cowley, the institute’s executive vice-president of development and marketing who co-authored the rankings report, said the reason Olds’ other schools with elementary grades— Ecole Olds Elementary School (EOES) and Ecole Deer Meadow School (EDMS)—were not included in the study was because EOES does not have a Grade 6 class and EDMS does not have a Grade 3 class.
"It has nothing at all to do with whether or not the school is a good school or a bad school," he said. "There’s nothing like the school said we’re not going to give you our data."
As for why the number of schools has increased in the rankings report, Cowley said the institute changed its study criteria for the number of students enrolled in grades 3 and 6 from 15 to 10 so smaller schools are now included.
High school rankings for Alberta will be released in the coming weeks, Cowley said.
The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization.
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