Following the latest report on elementary schools in Alberta, the Fraser Institute released their latest Report Card on Alberta’s High Schools 2024, which compares schools in Cochrane to the rest of the province.
This year, out of 290 high schools in Alberta Cochrane High School and Bow Valley High School both ranked 84th with scores of 6.8 out of a 10 rating. In addition, St. Timothy High School ranked 109th with a score of 6.5.
Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute, Peter Crowley, has one of the creators of the report card and explained that they’ve been conducting these reports over the last 25 years. He explained that they are intended for parents to gauge schools in the community to better help decide where they can send their kids.
Through working with the Ministry of Education, Crowley said they collect data points and indicators, which are then used to show quantifiable figures.
“So, things like how kids do on provincial exams, but there are other things like whether or not there are any difference between boys and girls in specific areas,” he explained. “For instance, it isn’t general, but girls seem to have better success in language arts, and boys do better in math, and that was interesting.”
Crowley explained that examining each piece of data allows them to bring it into an overall rating out of 10. By looking at the annual patterns of how schools move, he said it can help schools in the ranking determine points of improvement.
“Looking at the five-year average, Bow Valley High School is at a 6.1 out of 10, whereas Cochrane High School is 7.1 out of 10,” he said. “If we looked at these two schools, we’d say – Ok, what would be really nice is if Bow Valley figured out some ways to improve its results, at least to where Cochrane High is.
“So, the question; is why is one of the schools doing better than the other, although the result over the last five years have show reasonably good results in both cases?”
As each school’s rank constantly shifts every year, Crowley hopes that parents, principals, and school boards use the ranking when considering the education of students in Alberta.
“I really want them to use the rankings for the things that are important [like] improving the results of various students in all the areas that we rank,” he said.
Looking to the future, Crowley said he hopes to continue to work on the report cards for schools in Alberta, and hopes that other provinces that participate in the report cards improve their quality of education through their findings.
“I can encourage them if they want to listen,” he said. “I can encourage them to do that just by showing them the rankings. It’s possible for them to ensure in their schools and school boards that they can do a better job for the kids.”
