Income levels not so important for test results, C.D. Howe study claims.

TORONTO -- A C.D. Howe Institute Study suggests that schools with many low income families should be compared with other schools in the same type of neighbourhood especially when comparing the results on standardized provincial tests. Family income levels do not tell the complete story, the researchers claim.

A study of provincial test scores of Ontario elementary schools, Signposts of Success: Interpreting Ontario's Elementary School Test Scores, reports that while there is a strong relationship between the social and economic characteristics of the community in which a school is located and the school's achievement levels on standardized tests, those factors explain less than half of the variation in school performance. They report that some students from homes less affluent and with less well educated parents have high achievement results, while the results of some schools whose students come from homes with affluent, well-educated parents are lower than might be expected for schools in such advantaged neighbourhoods.

The authors, David Johnson, Professor of Economics at the School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, argue that a fairer and more useful way of comparing schools is to focus on other factors--such as the managerial talents of principals, the quality of teaching, and the resources available to the school--that can make a difference in the classroom.

Among the factors the report highlights, is team approaches among teachers in the primary and junior divisions (kindergarten to Grade 3 and Grades 4 to 6, respectively) to preparing their students.

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