Report Card on British Columbia's Secondary Schools: 2001 Edition

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Detailed school results

View the Tables by School District

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. At the bottom of this page is an example.

The items in the upper left corner of the table provide information about the school and its students. Elgin Park Secondary in Surrey is a public school with a grade 12 enrolment in 1999/2000 of 196 students. We include the enrolment to remind readers to exercise caution when considering the data for schools with relatively small enrolment. One would expect greater variation in the results of schools with smaller enrolment.

Accreditation or evaluation year

Public schools are accredited every six years. Elgin Park was accredited last year. For schools that have not been accredited in the last year or two, the planned accreditation year is shown. Accreditation is a process whereby teachers, parents, students, and school administrators determine how well the school is meeting its objectives and what it must do to improve. The process includes a review of the self-assessment by an external team of educators and parents, who usually come from a different school district. Independent schools are evaluated every four years and, although there are differences in the procedure, the intent in both cases is much the same.

The documents reporting the accreditation or evaluation can provide useful information on the school's strengths and weaknesses. These documdents are available from the schools and we encourage parents to review them.

Parents' average education

The Parents' average education (yrs.) provides an indication of the socio-economic background of the student body. This statistic is used to calculate the difference between the school's actual overall rating of academic performance and the rating that one might expect when the parents' level of education is taken into account. This difference is shown to the right of the Parents' average education (yrs.). For example, Elgin Park's Overall rating out of 10 (7.8 in 1999/2000) is about what one would predict given the family background of its students. The difference between actual and predicted overall rating (just 0.2 overall rating points in the example) is shown in the table. A larger positive difference would suggest that the school is effective in enabling its students to succeed regardless of their socio-economic background.

The Parents' average education (yrs.) can also 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 practice.

Academic performance

Below Parents' avg. education, are the indicators of academic performance. Note that all the results data—with the exception of the Exams 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 provincial results contained in table 1 below, note that Elgin Park's Average exam mark statistic (72.3 percent) is four percentage points higher than the provincial average. Compare the school's most recent average examination mark with that of past years. The school has enjoyed continuous improvement in this indicator since its first year of operation. The upward arrow () to the right of the average examination marks indicates that we are quite confident that this upward trend is not just the result of random fluctuations from year to year but reflects actually improvement.

Similarly, Elgin Park enjoyed a much lower Percentage of exams failed (6.3%) than did the province as a whole (13.0%). It also shows a smaller School mark versus exam mark difference than does the province. The upward arrow () indicates that the school is experiencing significant improvement in these indicators as well. In fact, in all but the Gender gap indicators, the school out-paces the province, in several cases by a wide margin, and it continues to improve.

Overall rating out of 10

The Overall rating out of 10 (Elgin Park scored well at 7.8 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 Elgin Park ranked 29th out of 281 schools in 1999/2000. The rankings are shown in the top right corner of the table. The school ranked 25th out of 238 based on its five-year average Overall rating. Elgin Park's strong long-term ranking shows that the school has been consistently effective over the years.

English 12 course results

Elgin Park consistently scores higher than the provincial average on the English 12 examination and continues to widen the gap. This result is the more remarkable because the school's participation rate in English 12 is high.

Interpretation

Overall, the school community at Elgin Park should be pleased about these results. The academic results are strong and still improving. While the Gender gap measures for the most recent year are not as good as the provincial average, there is no evidence in the historical record that indicates a persistent or serious problem in this regard. In the two other circumstances where the school did not show a significant improvement—Graduation rate and English 12 participation rate—the school already had a very high level of performance.

Families considering Elgin Park 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. A review of the accreditation documents available at the school may provide insight into the school's effectiveness in these areas.

The school community at Elgin Park 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. Nevertheless, a history of success and improvement is a solid basis upon which to build.

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 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.