Fraser Institute listings put focus on Foundation Skills results for Prince Rupert schools

Spring break may be just over the horizon for students and teachers at SD52, but for parents and guardians there's a bit of homework to take on during the break which starts on March 20th. 

With the annual listings on BC elementary schools released this week by the Fraser Institute.

The controversial report is one which focuses on the results of the Foundation Skills Assessment testing program.  

Pretty well from Day one however,  many teachers, School Administrators and School Board officials say that the annual listing by the research group doesn't portray a true picture of how the schools are faring on a day to day basis.

Still the listings do provide for one of the few reviews that parents/guardians have access to when it comes to local schools, with four Prince Rupert schools among the Fraser Institute listings for this year.

They included the Catholic Independent School Annunciation which continues to be the lead school for the annual report for the city.

Three public schools were listed for the 2022 report care, they were Conrad, Lax Keen and Roosevelt Park. 

Pineridge  Elementary and Prince Rupert Middle School were not among the schools for this years review and the document released on Tuesday offered no explanation as to why.

Port Edward Community School has never been listed, that seemingly owing to their limited enrolment. 

The Vancouver based institute reviewed the results of Grade 4 and 7 students of 745 schools in British Columbia, the three elements of the FSA's that make for the report include Reading, Writing and Numeracy.

The findings for Prince Rupert can be reviewed below:

Across the Northwest, the school which had the best outcome from the report was Veritas Catholic School in Terrace.

In the preview to the report on Tuesday, the Fraser Institute Peter Cowley observed as to what the information provides for parents.

“The report card offers parents information they can’t easily get anywhere else, about how schools perform over time and how they compare to other schools in B.C. We often hear that schools can’t improve student performance because of the communities and students they serve, but the evidence suggests otherwise”

The full report can be accessed here.

You can search the data base here to review the listings for all of the schools noted for the 2022 report.

The BCTF frequently notes of the areas of the Fraser Institute focus that don't fully reflect on the classroom situation and learning outcomes across BC.

In the case of one BCTF local, the report is notable for how they see it as serving to divide communities.

School District 52 administration and Board members don't often speak to the Fraser Institute report, its findings rarely making for any discussion at the Board level during their monthly meetings.

The Fraser Institute also compiles a similar report for Secondary Schools in BC, that usually is released later in the Spring.

More notes on Education in Prince Rupert can be explored here.