A recently released report from the C.D. Howe Institute says B.C. has the lowest high school dropout rate in the country.
Using data from the recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) calculations, School Dropouts: Who Are They and What Can Be Done? shows B.C.’s dropout rate has dropped from 13.3 per cent in the 1990/91-1992/93 school years to 6.2 per cent in 2007/08-2009/10. Quebec had the highest rate, with a drop from 17.4 to 11.7 per cent in the same years.
Dropout rates in Canada differed, however, by gender, where male dropout rates have continued to rise to the point that for every three females that drop out, five males drop out, a common trend in OECD countries according to the study.
Immigrants also had varying dropout rates. For example South and East Asian immigrants were below the national average, but Haitians, Portuguese, and Jamaican dropout rates were well above average. Aboriginals also had varying dropout rates, where Meitis’ 25 to 34 and 45 and older had a significant decrease in dropouts, but First Nations 25 to 34 living on reserve had a dropout rate of 50.9 per cent in 2006.
The study measured dropout rates by looking at the number of people aged 19 to 24 that had not completed high school and were not currently in an equivalency program. Data was also taken from Statistics Canada, which looked at the 25 to 34, 35 to 44, and 45 and older age groups.
Despite the positive showing for B.C., The Vancouver Sun's Janet Steffenhagen posted on her Report Card blog that the provincial government prefers its own high school completion rate measurements to the C.D. Howe data:
The B.C. Education Ministry, in addressing the drop-out issue, looks at the percentage of students who finish high school within the usual time frame, which it sets at six years. That rate has hovered around 79 cent for several years. The ministry says the high-school completion rate is a more accurate measure of the B.C. education system because it considers the success of B.C. students only.
"As with the Statistics Canada dropout rate, the rate published by the C.D. Howe Institute is a measure of education levels in the general population, including people who were educated in other provinces and countries," the ministry said in a statement.
Katie Hyslop writes about education for The Tyee.
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Fiat lux
1 year ago
On the other hand, who the
On the other hand, who the hell gives a damn about what the monetary priesthoods, falsely called "economists", of the CD Howe or Fraser advertising agencies say?
Especially on education.
Ed Deak.
Skywalker
1 year ago
Right Ed.
Kinda makes you wonder why there was all this new interest by Falcon in "Merit Pay" for teachers if they are all doing such a good job according to the CD Howe Institute. Makes you wonder which is full of hot air. Probably both are.
happy
1 year ago
It helps if you READ the report before commenting
If you check the References in the PISA link provided, you would see a lot of the data that CD Howe is using for their report was provided by StatsCan.
If CD Howe is full of hot air then so is StatsCan as they also claim BC has the lowest drop out rate in the country.
Maybe its the BCTF who's full of hot air.
How can they claim underfunding and overcrowding is causing such a massive crisis when the drop out rate is less than half what it was in the 90's?
(BTW. The CD Howe institute is also very much against abolishing the long census form. That is where they get data such as this)
Skywalker
1 year ago
Happy
Now why not go one step further and a answer my point as well. Being selective again are we?