Teachers decry rankings

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It's the yearly song and dance between the Fraser Institute and B.C. teachers.

Each year, the institute publishes its elementary school rankings based on the results of the province's Fundamental Skills Assessment.

And, each year, teacher's associations denounce the report as being unfair in its portrayal of public schools versus private schools.

The latest report, released Sunday, shows five schools with perfect grades, all private or independent schools. Eighty per cent of the top 100 ranked schools are independent schools.

"This is one test and, to use this one snapshot really is a misnomer. It does not accurately assess where a student or a school is," said Susan Bauhart, president of the Central Okanagan Teachers' Association.

"The fact they use these to rank the schools, I can't speak strongly enough against that."

Bauhart claims the tests aren't even accurate.

At a COPAC meeting Monday night, Bauhart said local school district Supt. Kevin Kaardal stated the Fraser Institute gives students who opt out of the test a zero.

"They don't take them off the list, they give the kids a zero. What does that do to a school's average if you want to talk numbers? It just shows the inaccuracy of what is actually printed."

And, she said what reports like these do to kids is just sad.

"'Oh, we're the dumbest kids in Kelowna.' There's no excuse for that, and, it's not accurate."

Teresa Rezansoff, president of the B.C. School Trustees Association, said the organization is in favour of systems that appropriately review and report student performance.

“It is unfortunate the Fraser Institute has once again chosen to rank schools across this province based largely on the results of a single set of tests that do not reflect the broad spectrum of student programs or services in B.C. classrooms,” said Rezansoff.

Bauhart agreed, stating teachers are all for fair assessments.

Moving forward, she said, with the new curriculum being introduced by the province, the one component not announced yet is that of assessment. That, she said, is a real problem for teachers.

"But, it's not an easy fix."

The Fraser Institute defends its report, saying it's the only objective, reliable tool that parents have to compare the academic performance of their child’s school over time.

“When parents see the report card’s objective evidence that a school’s results are consistently low or declining, they often become very effective advocates for improvement,” said Peter Cowley, director of school performance studies.

“Every year, every school in the province must find ways to improve student results— it’s as simple as that.”