Most Improved Schools Are In The Poorest Neighbourhoods: Study
Posted March 1, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A report from the Fraser Institute has found that some of the fastest-improving schools in the province are in the poorest neighbourhoods.
The group discovered that 20 of the elementary schools in Ontario with scores significantly higher than last year’s results were in areas were parents had the lowest average income.
“Teachers and administrators in these schools have found ways to beat the odds and help their students do better than might be predicted by their families’ average income,” outlined Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies in a press release.
“This clearly shows that elementary schools don’t need to be located in wealthy neighbourhoods to improve and be successful.”
The average parental income for all Ontario elementary schools listed in the Fraser Institute Report Card is $73,500, but at Frontenac in Kingston, parents bring home around $23,800.
But Frontenac improved from an overall score of zero in 2004 to 5.3 in 2008.
“Using the report card to compare a private school in a well-off Greater Toronto neighbourhood to a small, rural public school in northern Ontario may not be useful. But comparing schools that have similar characteristics within the same community can be important for parents and educators alike,” Cowley added.
So what are the 20 schools?
- Sacred Heart in Espanola
- Frontenac in Kingston
- St Joseph in Niagara Falls
- St Andrew in Welland
- Ridgewood in Coboconk
- St Dorothy in Toronto
- Grey Central in Ethel
- Humberwood Downs in Toronto
- St Leo in Toronto
- Saint-Francois-d’Assise in Welland
- Parkway in Cambridge
- Centennial-Grand Woodlands in Brantford
- Ferndale in St Catharines
- Chartland in Toronto
- Holy Cross in Brantford
- Ogden in Thunder Bay
- Holy Name of Jesus in Hamilton
- St Helen in Toronto
- Morrish in Toronto
- Seaforth in Seaforth
