More High Schools Consider Eliminating Class Rankings
Several public school systems in Wisconsin are considering doing away with high school class ranking—emboldened by the claim that high schools that have discarded rankings are seeing more of their students get into competitive colleges and universities. District administrators in the state say that too many excellent students are overlooked when schools report class rankings to colleges. "We've got a high-achieving district with very bright students, but you can only have so many in the top 10 percent," one district assistant superintendent told the Associated Press. She cited as an example one senior with a 3.88 grade-point-average who organized a fundraiser for displaced Ugandan citizens and is active on other fronts, but who isn't ranked in the top 25 percent of her class. A high school principal reported that the number of seniors admitted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison jumped from 18 to 46 in the two years since his district abandoned class rankings.
Other public and private schools in the country have also stopped publicizing class rankings and eliminated naming a valedictorian in favor of recognizing more top students. But many schools—including high schools in Pittsburgh and Hartford, Conn.—still give parents and students the choice of releasing their class rank to colleges that require it or in instances when it would benefit the student.
Tags: Wisconsin | college admissions | high school | education
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Holistic Ranking, and thoughts of Advanced Placement.
I certainly agree with the mentality of eliminating rank - however it is dependent on the school and the classes which are offered. I am a high school Junior and the valedictorian of the class, and there have been several instances of students who were not acknowledged for their considerable academic performance,
As for the Advanced Placement program- there are positive and negative attributes. It is beneficial that college-level material is (hopefully) becoming available to disadvantaged schools with advanced students as well as students who are capable of increasing their capacity for effort. However, the program is narrow-minded and not holistic enough as what is important is simply a grade on a standard test, and not the effort expended in the class. Not to mention, are college admissions officers capable of gauging the difficulty of these courses? Many secondary schools limit the amount of advanced placement courses as well even to the most accelerated students. If college admissions are this "linear" in their perspective and only regard instant-gratification such as the number of AP courses a student took as well as standardized test scores, they are not truly observing the capacity, character, and intellectual curiosity of a student.
In my particular instances, my schedule only allowed me to take three Advanced Placement courses - English, Calculus, and Chemistry. I became highly frustrated, and therefore took courses at extension programs (psychology and history of the Middle Ages, as well as two Harvard courses (French immersion and Shakespearean literature) through their wonderful extension program. I have also been highly motivated outside of a school or college campus by completing coursework from MIT's Open Courseware in anything from neurobiology to the Fourier Series. Yet, no student can be credited for being a self-guided learner to challenge themselves with more advanced material than they can find in their high school as there is no standard exam to take. I find it more important that students take actual college courses because it exposes them to the atmosphere, work ethic, and academic maturity that the must acquire to be prepared for college - not simply being taught to a test. As a matter of fact, I find that teaching to a test is so archaic that I might simply take courses at the extension full time as a Senior.
Considering rank once more, for schools who teach advanced material beyond AP (yes, there are schools which teach classes that are more difficult, such as Multivariable Calculus and difficult philosophy courses), rank should not exist. You cannot determine the better student simply upon numbers.
AP and rank
A friend's daughter having been through all the AP classes in HS and speaking from her position in college, advised her brother to take a few AP classes but only a few. She advised him to take Accelerted level classes as much as possible esp if it is an area he really loves. She said the teachers teach in a more intellectual and creatively engaging way - in short the best teaching practices they have learned in their preparation to be teachers. This is more in line with "high level" learning. AP classes are all about teaching to the test. It is mostly a grind that aims for short term learning to pass the test. Schools themselves pressure students to take these classes and the AP tests as that is how they temselves advance in rankings. More evidence that despite the rhetoric it is not always about what is really best for the students.
Taking a ton of AP classes along with galloping into binding early decision are two mistakes many students make. These things masquarade as being what all ambitious stuents must do but actually they are more about the institutions that offer them.
AP is important but it must be balanced out with lots of good healthy choices for the mind and body.
Class rank - only postively serves a very tiny number of people. Damages many others. I agree it must go. Our very competetive school did a way with it a while back. I thought everyone had. Makes me really respect the decision makers at our school district.
Class Ranking
First our school system can't meet the basic requirements of teaching our children how to read and write, so the "AP" classes were created to show a student is worthy of university level work. Then we changed the GPA scale, from an understandable 90 or above equalled an "A" now it's curved to a 94 or above is an "A". Now we want to stop making little Johnny or Suzie feel bad because they didn't work hard, study and do all the other things required to excel, they still are viewed as smart or competitive as those who did put forth the effort. Instead of holding the standards that have worked for many generations, we continue to tweak the system to fit the students. We are producing students who believe the world is fair, life is fair, and competition doesn't exist. It shocks the heck out of them when they discover that life doesn't bend to thier wants and needs.
When are we going to stop telling our students that average is okay. Does that make them the worst of the best or best of the worst, we wonder why our nation is falling behind in education, it's becaue we're far more concerned about how the kids feel than caring about what they've learned.
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