CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - October 07, 2017) - The Fraser Institute today released its Report Card on Alberta high schools, the most easily accessible tool for parents to compare the academic performance of their children's schools.

The Report Card on Alberta's High Schools 2017 rates 274 public, independent, separate and charter schools based on eight academic indicators generated from Grade 12 provincewide testing, grade-to-grade transition and graduation rates.

"Being able to compare school performance helps parents make more informed decisions when choosing their children's school," said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies.

The Report Card also reveals which schools are improving or falling behind in academics.

The data suggests that every school is capable of improvement regardless of school type, location and proportion of students with special needs or students in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs.

For example, Bishop McNally, a Catholic school in Calgary, was one of the fastest improving schools in the province over the past five years, steadily climbing from a rating of 3.6 in 2012 to 5.9 in 2016 -- despite having more than 50 per cent of its students enrolled in ESL and 12 per cent of students having special needs.

"Principals of low-performing schools, and Alberta's minister of education, should find out what's happening at schools like Bishop McNally so they can use that knowledge to help struggling schools improve," Cowley said.

"Every year, every school in the province should find ways to improve student results -- it's that simple."

For detailed results of all 274 schools, go to www.compareschoolrankings.org where you can quickly see how a school performed over the past five years and how it compares to other schools.

Peter Cowley is available for media interviews from Calgary on Saturday and Sunday.

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org