26 September 2008
Class Rank–Current Trends
One reason for this blog is to generate discussion about pertinent issues in education and at Rochester Mayo High School. While most of my posts thus far have been more informative in nature, my post today is certainly intended to generate debate.
Included in today’s post is a web link to a news article out of suburban Chicago, where a district is considering removing class rank. This idea is not an anomaly. The National Association of College Admissions Counselors released a report which indicated that, by and large, class rank is an antiquated system which is not used for admissions criteria by many, many colleges and universities.
This summer Heather Hogen, assistant principal, and I attended an Advanced Placement workshop for administrators. One of the sessions we attended was presented by the dean of admissions for the University of Florida. At that session, we were engaged in an admissions activity that required us to admit five students, place five students on a “hold” and decline five students. Interestingly enough, we were not provided those students’ class rank, as they are not even a consideration for admissions.
Please take some time to review the article. Certainly, I am not telling you what to think, but simply giving you something to think about.
Have a great weekend.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1165272,5_1_WA16_CLASSRANK_S1.article
Class rank is basically keeping score in the game of academics. There are researchers, with carefully thought out experiments, that have concluded that keeping score in games is a bad thing for the self esteem of some of the participants. Those that don’t “win” are “losers”. They suggest that everybody is a winner just for participating. The problem is that taking winners and losers out of the equation seriously diminishes the competitive nature of the game. Many things about life are learned as part of the competitive process. Humility is learned by the “kid who always wins” losing his/her first game, and a sense of accomplishment is had by the “kid who always loses” and wins their first contest. Losing is a powerful motivator for those who get beyond on the “why bother?” stage. The competitive spirit is what makes people great and competition isn’t something that you want to surprise kids with when they get in their first job, or have to compete in an advanced educational situation.
Class rank can be a very large de-motivator as well. Especially in a system where a B is average (I thought a C was average, but I guess they changed that system as well), a kid with a 3.0 GPA can be in the bottom 25% of their class. How does that motivate a student?
Since we are debating, I disagree with the generalization of removing class rank as being equivalent to removing competition. In terms of competition, it is but one of several statistics and soft measures (such as participation in outside activities) used to determine college admission, scholarships, etc. The question isn’t whether there should be competition, but whether this particular statistic is useful. When I graduated from high school, 30 years ago in another state, it was a known fact that class rank was manipulated — with students who had GPA differences of hundredths of a point, the students going to MIT and Ivy league schools were moved up relative to the students going to state schools or others where the class rank wouldn’t affect their opportunity much. My understanding is that these days, schools still “adjust” class rank.
It is my understanding that a lot of colleges look at academic GPA (refiguring GPA based on English, History, Math, Science, and foreign language courses only). To me that is a much more meaningful measure than class rank. I haven’t looked recently, but is that on the Mayo High transcript? It would be more useful than class rank.
As a parent, class rank in the broad sense (top 10%, bottom 25%, etc) does give me some idea of whether my child is performing at the level of his or her peers. But, the meaning is still vague. If he or she has a high rank, are they one of the better students or simply taking easier courses? If he or she has a low rank, are they one of the poorer students, or is their class just a very high performing class?
One of my kids has a low GPA (below the admission standard for competitive colleges), but a high ACT score (well above the minimum admission standard at the same colleges). I suppose if a child in this case had a high class rank, it would tell colleges that he or she is capable and just attending a very rigorous high school. In my child’s case, I’m not sure of class rank now but it was mediocre in the past. So, class rank doesn’t tell anything that GPA doesn’t also reveal.
We have attended a number of Junior Preview Days at colleges in Minnesota and out of state. All schools have stated that they do consider class rank. I am very concerned about the way that Mayo High School uses class rank. Some students who do not take any honors or AP courses have a higher GPA and therefore a higher class rank than do many of the students who are taking these academically more rigorous courses. The weighted GPA makes up for some of this difference, but certainly not completely.
The Honors Degree at Mayo High School is an exceptional way to prepare for college success, and yet many students opt-out because of the negative impact on GPA and class rank. As a college instructor, I know that a student who achieves a B or even a C in an honors or AP course is far more prepared for college-level curriculum–usually more prepared than a student who achieves a higher grade in a non-honors course. Schools with an honors degree an or an International Baccalaureate program have achieved significant status for all participating students, and a B or even a C is a valued, well-earned grade in those programs. I would think that more students would be motivated to participate in Mayo’s Honors Degree and in the Honors coursework IF the ranking was eliminated and the rationale for the program was explained to more families.