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2013-03-17 at 16:42

St. Ignatius ranked one of top 100 high schools in Ontario: Report

By tbnewswatch.com
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A local high school is in the province’s top 100 according to the Fraser Institute.

The conservative think-tank released its report cards for Ontario’s secondary schools Sunday. St. Ignatius High School ranked 76 out of 725 secondary schools in the province, scoring 7.9 out of 10 to top the local list. That’s up from the 141 spot it had last year. St. Ignatius also topped the list locally for parents’ average income with $74,100. But the city’s lowest scoring high school, Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute ranked 578 provincially with a 4.7, had the second highest average income for parents with $73,300.

Hammarskjold came in a distant second for local high schools, scoring a 6.9 to take the 232 nd spot in Ontario. Next up was St. Patrick High School sitting at number 331 with a 6.4. Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute scored a 5.6 to take number 466 while Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute is number 522 with a 5.2.

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fan says:
Impressive. Perhaps the Ministry of Education should take note of what factors contributed to this ranking.
3/17/2013 5:18:08 PM
The Beaver..... says:
wow now I am really confused...what does a Parents income have to do with the quality of learning that kids receive at Schools.
I need to be corrected here..all teaching is done by Unionized and qualified Teachers (I assume) paid for by the same tax dollar that is extorted from the Tax Payer.Is this report saying somebody needs to take a serious look at the qualification of these Unionized Teachers and adjust their earning according to the quality they deliver.To bring Family income to the equation is lunatic and utterly irresponsible.
3/17/2013 6:24:59 PM
passlake says:
if we adjust the earnings of teachers to the quality they deliver, we should do the same for every public servant. Pay the police less if they don't solve crimes, pay the firemen less when they can't put out a house on fire before it burns to the ground and pay a paramedic less when someone dies in their care. Makes perfect sense.

And, as Statscan reports in "Education Indicators in Canada: Factsheet", there is a correlation between income and educational outcomes of children. The case with Westgate doesn't follow the commonly seen trend. This is likely why it was pointed out.
3/17/2013 10:58:04 PM
New Democrat says:
You're right! Factoring parental income?! It's LUNACY and UTTER IRRESPONSIBILITY! What MANIA is this, taking into account factors that have relevant bearing on a child's upbringing and motivation to succeed?!

I HATE it when my taxpayer dollars are EXTORTED by unionists to educate kids! -I- can better spend my money on bearings for my new gas-guzzling truck that runs over all the deer!!!

This must be a very deeply Liberal or Dipper organization...
3/18/2013 12:46:08 AM
Tim H. says:
Children that come from poorer familys should have even more ambition to succeed.

One of my best friends came from a shack with a dirt floor, no dad around to speak of and a mother who was focused on her new life and newer children. This friend worked their tail to bone and had a drive to succeed like nobody else I have ever met. To this day this person is a successful business owner who works day and night to acheive the things they want. This person is a winner in every sense of the word.

I came from a middle income family with nice houses and a stable enviornment. Double family income from high paid union jobs. I never worked as hard as my friend did. I made out alright in my life, but my friend made it farther than I have.

Family income and home may contribute slightly, but its not an excuse for under performing. It all comes down to the person and their desire to succeed.

Low family income is a direct result of the people that live there, not the other way around.
3/18/2013 11:16:26 AM
Tiredofit says:
Totally agree! All schools teach the same curriculum, so the poor results should reflect back on those providing it. Yes, while those who come from a more stable family often do better, it has nothing to do with income. I grew up poor, but had a stable, loving family and did ok, yet other rich kids didn't fair so well and were usually the ones getting into more trouble. More pointless information summarized by someone with too much time. Want to pay teachers big bucks? Do it based on performance based bonus system, whatch how things change. However the money grubbing unions wouldn't have it,
3/18/2013 6:56:23 AM
emma171 says:
Ridiculous comment. First of all, there are many factors that influence why some schools perform better than others, some of which I can't name right now. These factors are out of the teachers' control.

Secondly, what are you going to do: pay teachers more who have students with higher averages? Wouldn't teachers just inflate their students' marks then? And if you are talking about standardized testing, that is only one small measure of student intelligence that isn't always accurate. Besides, how could you ever punish a grade 10 teacher whose students don't do well on the literacy test because they didn't learn to read in the other 11 years of school.

Your suggestion simply doesn't work for so many reasons.
3/18/2013 2:02:52 PM
MD says:
The numbers actually show that family income has nothing to do with the scoring of these schools. If the city's top scoring high school had the highest family income and the city's lowest scoring high school had the second highest family income it shows income is not a predictor of the scoring. If it was the numbers would show as income increases so does scoring. There's also a balance in the Thunder Bay high schools boards. If the catholic board had the number 1 and 2 spots on this list and the public boards were grouped further down the list then maybe it would have something to do with the different unions and the teachers.
3/18/2013 9:17:50 AM
NearCanuck says:
I think that they mentioned the family income of those two schools to show that it had little effect on the 'performance' of the school in this ranking.

There have been some links between family income and academic achievement - at least to SAT scores in the US - so, maybe that is why they included it.
3/18/2013 10:04:13 AM
joey joe joe jr. shabadoo says:
yer kids get graded on what yer parents do for a living it seems...
3/18/2013 1:12:09 AM
pb_goodness says:
The Fraser report looks at provincial scores in Math and English from the previous year. A school is then ranked based on how that cohort performed. A school can finish first one year then last the next depending on one group of scores.
3/18/2013 8:03:05 AM
eddylives says:
Ummmm......Beaver you are wrong.
The home life of kids is a huge influence on their school preformance.
This is what they are saying , same teaching but different results with different household situations.
3/18/2013 8:05:00 AM
HailStorm says:
This ranking is definitely for their sports program or teams. Better ranking than most Thunder Bay schools
3/18/2013 8:53:51 AM
imhere says:
The Beaver - everyone always says that it's the "rich, well off family" schools that do the best. This proves otherwise.

All these teachers go through the same training - or should at least - so it's time for the better schools to share tips with the not so high ranked schools to get them all higher up in the standings. Although two separate school boards, lets get the teachers to talk with each other and share what works well with each other. Take one of the many pd days during the year and have the public and Catholic teachers work together to find the strongest teaching ways possible. I understand what works for one class doesn't necessarily work for the next but shouldn't we try?
3/18/2013 9:50:54 AM
CM Punk says:
Even to print this saying that there is a link between income of parents and student grades is totally insane.
This is nothing but a simple ruse.
Besides, the kids are treated like cars at an assembly plant. Too much paperwork to fail them so they move them along.
3/18/2013 10:32:32 AM
passlake says:
Is it insane? I found this study that looks at all aspects of child development and how income affects it. While not all aspects of the study are directly linked to education outcomes, many of these indirectly affect a child's ability to learn to their full potential.



Allow me to quote from the very first line of the Conclusion "WHAT THE DATA IN OUR RESEARCH POINT TO STRONGLY is that child outcomes and living conditions are associated with a family's income level..."

With a bit of research you can find countless other studies that back up this claim...
3/18/2013 12:47:26 PM
Winger says:
Claiming that higher income familys have better student results is insane. Not only does this make excuses for poor people to settle for mediocrity it tells kids that try harder that the reason they do better is because mommy and daddy make more money than other kids.

there is no reason to try to tear down high achieving kids and make excuses for underacheiving kids. teach the kids that the more they put in, the better they will be.

providing excuses just hurts them more. if anyone truly cares about them they will encourage them to work harder. stop rewarding failures and start rewarding successes then we will get back to where we belong.
3/18/2013 12:25:36 PM
TB99_2 says:
I think income does come into play but has nothing to with how kids are treated in school but has to do with the implications that come from growing up in a low/middle income family and the choices that the parents make. I am a single parent, and my kids are very successful happy young adults now. But I cringe when I poeple say that they are going to "choose" to send their kids to school A or B because they score better on the provincial tests. They are able to think about these things and do what is necc. to move their kids. I have also heard friends/family say that they would prefer to not have their kids go to a school that is predominantly single parents......Often when a family is in a lower income bracket their main energy and worry is spent on working, paying rent, feeding the family, they do not have the time and energy to think about moving their kids to a school that scores better.
3/18/2013 12:57:41 PM
HailStorm says:
Tim H, your comments week after week are making us sick, do you ever think before you write??
3/18/2013 1:07:25 PM
TB99_2 says:
addiontal comments: often a school ends up with predominently low/middle class families based on the neighbourhood, and kids from higher income brackets pool at other schools, and then these reports further encourage parents to move their kids if they happen to be zoned for a school that doesn't appear as successful. Kids from families with higher incomes often do not have to hold down a job and go to school, most will not have to pay for post secondary education themselves. Higher Income families as compared to low income families operate much differently, what parents spend most of their worry and concerns on are predominantly different.
3/18/2013 1:07:42 PM
The Beaver..... says:
@eddylives...since when has money got anything to do with a good home environment
3/18/2013 1:38:13 PM
Molly says:
Worthy to note St Ignatious in Current River and Westgate in Westfort have the highest income base.
3/18/2013 2:22:38 PM
MD says:
St Ignatius is the only catholic high school in the north side of the city, so yes it is located in Current River but the children that attend come from other places then Current River...River Terrace, Jumbo Gardens/Woodcrest Area come to mind.
3/19/2013 9:15:06 AM
Dan Dan says:
The Separate school board consistently outperforms the public.
3/18/2013 10:47:07 PM
eddylives says:
The Beaver..... says
@eddylives...since when has money got anything to do with a good home environment

You are joking I hope.....
And if you are serious then I have nothing to explain to you that would help.
3/19/2013 4:14:21 PM
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