Report Card on Alberta's High Schools : 2001 Edition

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Detailed school results

View the Tables by Group

Getting the most out of the tables

The tables of detailed school results provide a great deal of information, all of which is worth attention. Below is an example.

Strathcona School
(Public)					How the school ranks
					1999/2000	Last 5 years
Grade 12 enrollment:	414	Overall academic ranking:			67 / 276	39 / 240
Parents’ average education (yrs):	15.9
Academic Performance	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	Trends
Average exam mark	68.2	67.2	67.6	68.7	68.2	—
Percentage of exams failed	13.3	13.9	12.7	11.9	14.2	—
School vs exam mark difference	2.6	3.5	3.9	3.5	3.9
English 30 gender gap	F 2.7	F 2.8	F 3.5	F 1.5	F 3.8	—
Math 30 gender gap	F 2.8	F 3.2	F 1.3	F 2.1	F 3.2	—
Courses taken per student	3.8	3.9	3.9	4.1	4.1
Diploma completion rate	n/a	66.2	67.1	68.6	68.8	n/a
Overall rating out of 10	7.6	7.2	7.0	7.3	7.0	—
Most popular courses (1999/2000)	SS 30	En 30	Ma 30	Bi 30	Ch 30	Ph 30
Average exam mark	65.5	69.6	67.0	71.5	69.3	67.3
Student participation rate	79.6	64.9	64.4	63.1	52.6	36.1

The items in the upper left corner of the table provide information about the school and its students. Strathcona School in Edmonton is a public school with a grade 12 enrollment in 1999/2000 of 414 students. We include the enrollment to remind readers to exercise caution when considering the data for schools with relatively small enrollment. One would expect greater variation in the results of schools with smaller enrollment.

Parents' average education

The Parents' average education (yrs.) provides an indication of the socio-economic background of the student body. This indicator can be used to identify other schools whose students have similar socio-economic backgrounds. A comparison of the results of these similar schools can identify those schools that are particularly effective in taking socio-economic conditions into account in their teaching and counselling practices.

Academic performance

Below Parents' average education are the indicators of academic performance. Note that all the results data--with the exception of the Courses taken per student and the Overall rating out of 10--are expressed in percentage points. Where no results were produced or where small numbers of results were suppressed for privacy reasons, "n/a" appears in the tables.

First, look at the Average exam mark indicator in the example for the school year 1999/2000 (labelled 2000). Referring to the results for all schools in table 1 note that Strathcona's statistic for Average exam mark (68.2%) is four percentage points higher than the average for all schools. Compare the school's most recent average examination mark with that of past years. The school has consistently scored well above the average for all schools on this indicator over the five years reported. The dash (— ) to the right of the average examination marks indicates that the school is neither improving or deteriorating on this indicator during the period.

Table 1 Average for all schools in the Report Card (1999/2000)

Similarly, Strathcona enjoyed a Percentage of exams failed (14.2%) that is lower than the average for all schools (16.7%). It also shows a School vs exam mark difference that is smaller than the average. However, the values for this indicator are going up; that is, the school is experiencing higher differences between the average school mark and the corresponding average exam mark. Because the school's performance on this indicator is getting significantly worse over time, a downward arrow (t) appears at the end of this indicator row. The Gender gap indicators show that the school is performing close to the average for all schools in the Report Card and there is no significant change in the school's performance on this dimension over time. The students at the school are, on average, taking significantly more diploma courses than they have in the past and they have consistently taken more than the average for all schools.

Overall rating out of 10

The Overall rating out of 10 (Strathcona scored well above the provincial average at 7.0 in 1999/2000) takes into account the school's performance on the seven key academic indicators of school performance. It is on the basis of the school's Overall rating that Strathcona ranked 67th out of 276 schools in 1999/2000. The rankings are shown in the top right corner of the table. The school ranked 39th out of 240 based on its five-year average Overall rating. Strathcona's strong long-term ranking shows that the school has been consistently effective over the years.

Results in the most popular
courses at the school

The individual course results show that Strathcona does better in some subject areas than in others relative to the average for all schools in the Report Card. In Biology and Chemistry, for instance, the Average exam mark at the school is substantially higher than the average whereas the marks in Social Studies 30 and Physics 30 are close to the average. However, the student participation rates must be taken into account as well. In every one of the six courses reported here, a substantially higher percentage of the students at Strathcona take these challenging diploma courses than do Alberta students as a whole.

Interpretation

Overall, the school community at Strathcona should be pleased about these results. The academic results are generally good. The school community should not, however, be complacent. Plans for improving a school can build on past success to provide students with the opportunity to reach even greater levels of achievement.

There should be some attention paid to the increase in the School vs exam mark difference even though it remains consistently better than the average for all schools. A review of the school-based assessment policy and practice may reveal some recent changes that have caused this deterioration. While the rate of failure is not getting worse, there is considerable room for improvement. This might be the second area to which attention should be paid. For reasons discussed in the description of this indicator in the previous section, a lower failure rate would certainly be desirable and should be quite possible given the general level of academic achievement at the school. Finally, close analysis of the variation in results among subject areas may suggest other aspects of the school's operation that could be improved.

Families considering Strathcona for their students should seek to confirm the Report Card's findings by visiting the school and interviewing teachers and school administrators. Of course, a sound academic program should be complemented by effective programs in the areas of school activity not measured by the Report Card.

Notes to the tables of detailed school results

Note 1

Not all the province's secondary schools are included in the tables or the ranking. Excluded are schools at which fewer than 15 students were enrolled in grade 12. These schools do not generate a sufficiently large set of data about the students' performance to allow a fair and reasonable analysis and presentation of the results.

Also excluded from the ratings and rankings are centres for adult education and continuing education, schools that cater largely to non-resident foreign students, and certain alternative schools that do not offer a full program of courses.

The exclusion of a school from the Report Card should not be construed as a judgement of the school's effectiveness.

Note 2

Where there was insufficient reliable data available with which to calculate an indicator or where a school was not in operation during a specific year, "n/a" appears in the tables.

Note 3

You can compare a school's results with the province-wide results shown in table 1, below.

Note 4

Diploma completion data for regular day students were not available for the school year 1995/1996. As a result, the diploma completion rate was not used for the calculation of any schools Overall rating out of 10 for that year.

Note 5
Interpreting the Trends indicator

Improvement, if any, for each indicator and the Overall rating is noted with an upward pointing arrow ( ) in the last column of the row. A downward pointing arrow ( ) is used to note that the school is very likely experiencing a deterioration in performance. The arrows are only used where a statistically significant trend is detected. In this context, the term "statistically significant" means that, nine times out of 10, the trend that is noted is real; that is, it would not have happened just by chance. A dash (— ) indicates that no significant change has occurred over the reported period. Trends were calculated only in those circumstances where five years of data were available. Where less than five years of data were available, "n/a" appears in the tables.

In four instances--Average exam mark, Courses taken per student, Graduation rate, and Overall rating out of 10--an upward pointing arrow ( ) will accompany increasing values in the statistics. For example, increasing values for Average exam mark indicate improvement. For the other indicators--Percentage of exams failed, School vs exam mark difference, English 30 gender gap, and Mathematics 30 gender gap--an upward pointing arrow ( ) will accompany decreasing values in the statistics. For example, a decreasing rate of failure also indicates improvement.

Table 2: Alphabetical list of school authorities and private schools
showing the page on which each begins

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