The Fraser Institute has released their annual rankings on secondary schools in the province, and Selkirk Secondary is rapidly climbing the rankings. Selkirk has risen from an average ranking of 140 for the past five years to 83 out of 284 B.C. high schools. Selkirk was the only school in the Rocky Mountain District, and in fact in the Kootenays, to show this rapid improvement.
Schools’ academic performances are rated on the following criteria:
(1) the average exam mark in the grade-10, grade-11, and grade-12 courses that include a mandatory provincial exam;
See RANKINGS, page 5
(2) percentage of grade-10, grade-11, and grade-12 mandatory provincial examinations failed;
(3) average difference by which the school mark exceeds the examination mark in the courses considered in (1) and (2) above;
(4) difference between male and female students in their exam mark in English 10 only;
(5) difference between male and female students in their exam mark in Mathematics 10 only;
(6) graduation rate;
(7) delayed advancement rate.
Selkirk’s average exam mark has risen from 64.6 per cent in 2008 to 69.3 per cent in 2012. Exam failure rate has dropped to 6.9 per cent from 11.6 per cent. The graduation rate has risen from 91 per cent in 2008 to 98.6 in 2012.
The other two secondary schools in the Rocky Mountain District, Golden and David Thompson in Invermere are ranked 245 out of 284 and 117 out of 284 respectively.