The Fraser Institute, a conservative-libertarian think tank based in Vancouver, released its annual rankings of Ontario secondary schools and the results were encouraging for parents in Whitby and Uxbridge.
For their neighbours in Oshawa, Clarington and Brock Township, not so much.
The report card ranks schools across the province based on academic indicators gleaned from Ontario’s Grade 9 EQAO math test and Ontario Secondary School Literacy test scores.
The results are based out of 10 and the Fraser Institute said the scores give parents a chance to compare academic performances of schools their children might be, or are, attending.
Five schools, all in the GTA and all east of the Don Valley Parkway, scored perfect 10s.
The highest score in Durham Region was an eight recorded by Donald Wilson in Whitby. Three other schools scored at or near the honour roll mark, including Henry Street of Whitby at 7.5 and All Saints (Whitby) and Uxbridge Secondary, with both schools earning marks of 7.4.
Five of the top 10 schools in Durham are in Whitby.
Three schools, however, were given failing marks, including G.L. Roberts in Oshawa (3.7), Brock High School in Cannington (4.0) and Eastdale in Oshawa (4.7).
Maxwell Heights was Oshawa’s highest scoring school at 7.3, a grade shared by J. Clarke Richardson in Ajax and Dunbarton in Pickering.
Clarington schools fared poorly on the tests, with Bowmanville Secondary scoring the highest with a 6.1 and the municipality’s high schools averaging just over 5.7.
Not all the province’s secondary schools are included in the Fraser Institute ranking.
“It doesn’t matter where a school is ranked or what challenges a student may face,” said Peter Cowley, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute. “The evidence is clear: all types of schools, located all over the province with different types of students, are all capable of improvement.”
To see where your school ranks, visit https://www.compareschoolrankings.org/
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