Reference
Glossary
Every score on FamilyRoost is built from public data, and the terms behind it are defined here in plain language. Where a term has a deeper write-up, we link to it.
- AEAM
- Alberta Education Assurance Measures — the annual survey of parents, students, and teachers on safety, engagement, and education quality.
- Read the full methodology →
- Catchment
- The designated-school boundary for your home address. We also show the specialty programs and lottery options your address opens.
- Fraser
- The Fraser Institute's school ranking (out of 10). We show it for context but weight it lightly and publish a critique — it largely tracks neighbourhood income.
- Read the full methodology →
- PAT
- Provincial Achievement Test — Alberta's standardized Grade 6/9 exams. We use the 3-year mean % at the Acceptable standard.
- Read the full methodology →
- Roost field research
- FamilyRoost's human-checked operational signals — grade truncation, recent incidents, community strength, leadership churn, capacity pressure — applied on top of the data sources.
- Read the full methodology →
- Roost Rating
- FamilyRoost's blended school score combining PAT, Fraser, AEAM, and Roost field research, shown as a tier from S to D.
- Read the full methodology →
- SES
- Socioeconomic status — neighbourhood income/education level, which correlates strongly with raw test scores.
- Read the full methodology →
- SIRR
- School Information & Results Report — the CBE PDF where each school's AEAM survey results are published.
- Read the full methodology →
Looking for the big picture? How we score schools.