British Columbia’s Best Schools: Where Teachers Make the Difference

This study compares student outcomes at British Columbia elementary schools where students come from similar socio-economic backgrounds, thus revealing "good" schools where principals, teachers and staff are making a positive difference to student performance. This alternative means of identifying the best schools in the province shows that there are both public and independent schools among the top performers. The resulting school ratings by percentile are useful not only to parents, but also to teachers, school board administrators and education officials who wish to identify schools whose practices deserve imitation.