100 Mile House has made the ranks of most improved high schools, according to a study calculated by the Fraser Institute.
From 2014 to 2018, 100 Mile House’s Peter Skene Ogden (PSO) Secondary School has experienced a steadily climbing overall school rating. Ratings are based on a scale of 10, and while the PSO was ranked at a 4.6 score in 2014, it closed out the 2018 school year with an increased overall rating of 6.8 out of 10.
The average exam marks at PSO also went up in the last four years, from an average score of 64.7 in 2014 to an average of 72 in 2018. 100 Mile House scored higher in this category than all other schools within the Cariboo-Chilcotin like Williams Lake, and even beat out the average exam scores of other secondary schools in the Kamloops/Thompson region like Norkam, Westsyde, Valleyview, and Chase.
PSO also received one of the best low scores when it comes to failed exams. 100 Mile House students were amongst the top schools in the Cariboo-Chilcotin for all rankings, but their low percentage of exams failed was another highlight of their provincial report card this year.
Read More: Fraser Institute releases latest B.C. high school rankings
100 Mile House’s Elementary School did not do as well on its provincial report card, and has received a lower overall rating than last year and the year before that, too. Comparably, other elementary schools in the district received fluctuating overall ranks over the years, with schools like 150 Mile Elementary falling in ranks each year.
Horse Lake Elementary, on the other hand, has climbed in its overall rating during the past four years.
Metro Vancouver is B.C.’s largest city, but none of its secondary school’s made the list for fastest improving. The report was released Wednesday and ranks 251 schools in B.C. based on seven academic indicators as well as annual provincial exam scores, graduation rates, and grade-to-grade transition rates.
Angela MacLeod is a senior policy analyst for Fraser Institute and said that in this year’s calculations, seven of the top 10 fastest-improving secondary schools are actually outside of Metro Vancouver.
“All too often, we hear excuses that public schools can’t compete with independent schools because of the communities and students that they serve, but that’s just not true,” said MacLeod. “Every school can improve and strive to rank higher than the year before.”
MacLeod is listed as a co-author of the Report Card on British Columbia’s Secondary Schools for 2019, alongside Peter Cowley, former Director of school performance studies at the Fraser Institute. The two also collaborated on the 2019 Report Card on British Columbia’s Elementary Schools.
Other B.C. cities with schools to make the list were Chilliwack, Invermere, Surrey, Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Maple Ridge, Delta, and Terrace.
To access the Fraser’s Institute’s full reports, visit their records here.
raven.nyman@100milefreepress.net
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