South Delta public schools didn't rate well in the Fraser Institute's latest ranking of B.C.'s elementary schools.

A ranking system that has long been controversial, The Report Card on British Columbia's Elementary Schools 2011 released Monday rated 875 public and private elementary schools across the province. It's based on data from the province-wide Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA), tests mandated by the B.C. Ministry of Education that have also been a source of controversy.

"Using the Fraser Institute report card, parents can easily identify schools that show improved academic performance year to year," said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies. "And if their child's school is not improving, or has declined, the report card gives parents the information they can use to ask questions of school administrators and teachers."

As far as South Delta public elementary schools go, Ladner's Neilson Grove ranked highest, finishing 107th out of 875 schools.

It finished ahead of English Bluff (225th), Beach Grove (281st), Cliff Drive (375th), Holly (410th), South Park (410th), Ladner (513th) and Hawthorne (624th).

Pebble Hill and Port Guichon were not mentioned in the report card.

A pair of private schools -- Southpointe Academy (30th) and Sacred Heart (57th) -- fared better. Delta Christian was not included.

Teachers have argued against the validity of the Fraser Institute's rankings, saying they don't tell the whole story about a school while misusing the results of the standardized FSA.

"Unfortunately, the teachers' union doesn't want parents and B.C. taxpayers to see the report card. The union doesn't want parents to be able to compare schools based on student assessments, which is why it is battling so hard to halt provincewide standardized testing," Cowley said.

Cowley said British Columbians are clearly concerned about school improvement, and the Fraser Institute's report card is the only easily accessible, objective tool that helps them identify whether schools are meeting students' academic needs

However, Delta Teachers' Association president Paul Steer said the rankings have long been discredited.

"Parents should feel free to set aside the ranking of the Fraser Institute for elementary schools and to know in a general way there are lots of reasons to have confidence in Delta public schools, " he told the Optimist Monday.

Steer noted standardized tests have a role when used appropriately.

"They can be useful for assessing the effectiveness of your entire system. So if you're looking for information on how well you're doing educationally as a school system, a standardized testing instrument that samples schools out of a larger population, and does so randomly and anonymously, can give you valuable information," he said.

"The use of the FSA data by the Fraser Institute serves a more or less negative agenda that they're advancing. Teachers, therefore, pay not much or any attention to the Fraser Institute rankings. We also believe that increasingly members of the public can see how shallow and inappropriate these rankings are."