By Amanda Quinn
School officials are giving a poor grade to a recent report that claims Centretown elementary schools are underperforming, saying that despite what statistics might show, the schools are doing just fine.
The study, conducted by Wilfrid Laurier University professor David Johnson, used data about income and education levels in school neighbourhoods to predict scores for each school’s Grades 3 and 6 students on Ontario’s math and literacy tests.
Johnson then compared the predicted scores with the actual scores, and averaged them over six academic years from 1998.
Schools that scored in the 75th percentile or higher — meaning they performed better than 75 per cent of other schools — were deemed “strong.”
None of Centretown’s five schools met the criteria.
The principal at Centennial Public School argues many Centretown schools have high populations of children with English as a second language, resulting in lower results in the study.
“Eighty per cent of our students have English as a second language,” says Brenda Martin. “When they first get here they have to learn basic language skills and that certainly has an effect on the Grade 3 results.”
From 1998-2001, Centennial’s Grade 3 students ranked in the 12th percentile. Three years later, however, they find themselves in the 1st percentile.
Grade 6 students have managed to improve their standing slightly, moving up from the 31st percentile in the 1998 to 2001 time period to the 32nd from 2001 to 2004.
“By Grade 6, our students’ skills in English allow them to learn more independently, which is reflected in the statistics,” says Martin.
Other schools, such as Cambridge Street Community School, have seen significant drops in results for both Grades 3 and 6. From 1998 to 2001, Grade 3 students were better than 13 per cent of other schools. In 2001 to 2004, that dropped to 5 per cent. Grade 6 students also dropped from performing better than 51 per cent of similar schools to only 19 per cent.
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Joan Spice says she is not concerned with the results, adding both Centennial and Cambridge are “excellent” schools.
“They’re both wonderful,” she says. “I’m not overly concerned about the results, because I have sat in the classrooms and I know that teachers are doing an excellent job.”
Elgin Street Public School, however, did well in Johnson’s study. From 2001 to 2004, Grade 3 students scored in the 71st percentile and Grade 6 students landed in the 77th percentile, nearly reaching the requirements of a “strong” school.
“Our schools are doing very well across the board,” says Spice. “This is a result of well-trained teachers and a dedicated system.”
There were other improvements as well. In 1998 to 2001, the scores of Grade 3 students at St. Anthony School were in the 7th percentile. Three years later, they have jumped to the 21st percentile. Grade 6 students also improved, moving from the 2nd percentile to the 30th in the same amount of time.
Brandi Campbell is school council chair at St. Anthony School and has a daughter who is in Grade 3. As a parent, she says she is concerned with judging a child’s skills based on one week’s worth of standardized testing.
“You just can’t base everything on these provincial tests,” she says. “What if they have an off day, what if they’re sick? You can’t say that one test is going to show what a child has learned in one year.”
Campbell adds the Johnson study can be seen as a criticism not only of teachers, but of students as well.
“I think it’s great that we have a way of knowing how our kids are doing,” she says. “But, if it’s used to criticize and judge kids, then that’s a problem.”
Camilla Martin, superintendent of staff development, evaluation and research with the English Catholic school board, takes issue with the study’s suggestion the board has only one good school.
“The results say that we have one exceptional school, but the way we look at it is that all of our schools are great.”
Martin adds studies like Johnson’s tend to “deflate” teachers because it suggests they aren’t doing their job, which “simply isn’t true.”
“Our teachers work extremely hard to make sure every student does well.”
School officials say they will continue to review the results, which consist of about 200 pages, and that any concerns about schools will be dealt with accordingly.