Only four public secondary schools — University Hill and Lord Byng in Vancouver, Sentinel in West Vancouver, and Okanagan Mission in Kelowna — ranked higher than RSS in the Fraser Institute's annual ranking of the province's schools, with private schools dominating the top spots.
RSS tied for 30th place in the overall ranking of 274 secondary schools whose Grade 12 enrollment exceeds 15 students.
Terry McDonnell, principal of RSS, says he doesn't put much stock in the institute's rankings, focusing his attention on what he considers the root for RSS success: "We've got great kids, great teachers, and you can really feel the support from the community," he said. "It's a wonderful building to be in. When you've got all that going for you — great people and a great atmosphere — positive things will come from that. That's what I support."
"I don't spend a lot of time focusing on the institute's report," he continued, noting the commentary in the news about people's agreement (or not) with the study's indicators. "I'm more focused on working with the kids, the community, and the teachers to keep it positive and upbeat in the building."
"It takes a community to raise a kid," he quipped. "Everybody's dedicated to working together and doing the best for the kids."
"Hopefully [the ranking] will mitigate worries of inadequate education at RSS," said Shelley Ackerman, a parent active on the Neighbourhoods of Learning committee.
Ackerman was referring to region-wide concerns over the need to tighten up the teacher-to-student ratio, and the specific need at RSS to cut back on some staff.
"People are worried that this is going to make it impossible to offer all the necessary courses, and that some parents will pull their kids and send them to Crowe," Ackerman said. "I personally have faith in RSS's ability to keep doing the excellent job it's always done."
MacLean Elementary has also risen in the rankings, from an average spot of 188th of 751 elementary schools over the last five years, up to 128th of 875 elementary schools this year.
Teresa Burdusco, principal of MacLean Elementary, declined to make any public comment regarding the rankings that also put Trail's St. Michael's in 117th, James L. Webster in 303rd, and Glenmerry in 410th this year.
Others are more openly dismissive of the results.
David DeRosa, principal of J.L. Crowe — which ranked 87th among secondary schools, above Stanley Humphries in 194th — said “it’s such a limited and finite data source that they’re using."
The Fraser Institute's "report card" measures a school’s status by looking at areas like average exam marks, percentage of exams failed, and graduation rate. The Fraser Institute writes that they focus on subjects with "uniform, statewide assessment," but despite the apparent objectivity, there are methodological problems.
For example, DeRosa explained that "the participation rates in examinations at the Grade 12 level fluctuate from year to year and even semester to semester, depending if our students are going to post-secondary schooling and post-secondary job training, or directly into the job world."
The institute measures improvement by comparing results to a five-year average. By these comparisons, Crowe has dropped 13 places in the standings, while RSS has risen from 44th place.
But again, the tight focus on uniformly graded subjects leaves out areas like trades training, the fine arts, or development of good citizenship skills. Nor do the rankings consider the quality of fitness facilities or technology upgrades, areas where J.L. Crowe especially excels.
As another measure, DeRosa said, “we have one of the highest daily physical activity success rates in a high school. We have more kids doing more fitness-oriented activity in our school than most provincially.”
"We had the minister of education here on Friday and he said our school is second to none in B.C.," he added.
Andrew Davidoff, president of the Kootenay Columbia Teacher's Union, pointed out that the ranking is heavily influenced by "socio-economic status," with top-heavy results for private schools. Rather than a sign of educational excellence, he said, these results are more a sign that private schools "don't have to accept every student, and many of those students have entry tests."
The district does look at the Fraser Institute results, he said, but to highlight areas of strength and areas that may need improvement rather than to compare schools.
The institute denies that the report only "distinguishes have schools from have-not schools."
They write: "While it is sometimes easier for schools to successfully teach children who enjoy many advantages at home, each year the report cards identify many schools with students that have very good results even though they serve students whose families do not have a high income level or high level of parental education."
— With files from Val Rossi