New Westminster Secondary School is one of 26 high schools across the province where academic performance has improved over the past five years, according to the Fraser Institute's controversial rankings.
NWSS was the only public school in Metro Vancouver where achievement was on the rise, but the upward swing doesn't carry much weight for superintendent John Woudzia.
"I've heard that we stand up very well, and I guess what I would say, while that's certainly a positive - it's nice to hear that, but we don't tend to put a lot of stock in the Fraser Institute's rankings," he said. "They are literally a snapshot and don't reflect the ongoing day-to-day, week-to-week work that happens in classrooms."
The district tracks student performance, Woudzia said, adding it looks to its own data to gauge student achievement.
The British Columbia Teachers' Union strongly opposes the rankings, saying the school rankings are worthless, favour private schools and create unfair ratings.
As for NWSS, it was ranked 57th and was given a rating of 7.2 out of 10 - up from the five-year average of 6.8 - on the Report Card of British Columbia's Secondary Schools 2013.
The report card rates 284 public and independent schools based on seven indicators using data from the annual provincewide exams administered for the Ministry of Education, as well as graduation and grade-to-grade transition rates. The Fraser Institute also lists information about each school's make-up, including parents' average income, the percentage of ESL students, and the percentage of special needs students.
Of the 26 B.C. secondary schools showing significant academic improvement, 16 are public schools where the parental income is below average, according to a Fraser Institute release.
"Principals and teachers who have not yet found ways to improve their academic results might profit from talking to the staff at these schools," Peter Cowley, student performance studies director at the Fraser Institute, said in a media release.
Private schools typically top the Fraser Institute's rankings. This year, only two public schools appear in the top-20 secondary schools in the province.
To view the rankings, visit the Fraser Institute's website at www.fraserinstitute.org.
