Scarborough schools rated in EQAO report

Several Scarborough schools have received high rankings on the annual standardized tests given by the Education Quality and Accountability Office, according to the annual report card released by the Fraser Institute on March 7.

The report card ranks 2,735 schools across Ontario based on the standardized tests.

EQAO rankings of Scarborough schools. (Infographic by Megan Harris/Toronto Observer)

Toronto public elementary school students are improving their grades, but they’re still falling behind the GTA average.

Though GTA schools averaged at 6.6 out of 10, the Toronto District School Board scored just below at 6.5. Despite this, Toronto has still gone up 0.3 per cent from last year’s results- and not all areas of the city follow the same pattern. In fact, three Toronto schools rated at 10.

Scarborough schools that received high rankings include Golf Road Public School (9.4), Agincourt Junior Public School (8.9), and West Hill Public School (8.8).

The EQAO tests test grade 3 and 6 students in reading, writing, and math each spring. The Fraser report uses the test data to rate schools on a scale of 0 to 10.

The report also includes an actual versus predicted rating, based on income. The average income for a school is provided, and given either a positive or negative rating, which shows how far off that school’s score is from other schools in the same income bracket.

Malvern Public School has an average parental income of $40,400. Although this is considerably lower than the average income for all Toronto schools, Malvern scored at 6.2, above the provincial average.

Fraser spokesman Michael Thomas said this means they’re overachieving by almost one full point above other schools in the $40,000 income bracket.

“They’re overcoming these socio-economic disadvantages that are typically reasons that a school board might cite for a school not performing well,” said Thomas. “It gives parents more information about the school.”

Thomas added that the report card is an important tool for parents who are comparing schools for their children.

“We’d never tell a parent to pick up our report card and choose a school based on the report card alone, but to use it as a starting point, to talk to a principal at a school they may be interested in,” he said.

The complete 2010 Fraser Institute Report Card on Ontario Elementary Schools can be viewed here.

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By: Megan Harris
Posted: Mar 25 2010 5:21 am
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