Research

 

The following graphic is a chart derived from The North Carolina Central University School of Law. Regardless of the background, this chart clearly shows that the top 10% are a small minority of the entire Class of 2013. Since class ranking systems only benefit the top tier students and harm any students below that due to the negative implications received from universities seeing their admissions, the class rank will harm the vast majority of students. Therefore, there is more harm than help being done, so it should be abolished.

Research

http://www.lionnewspaper.com/opinions/2011/11/14/counterpoint-class-rank-inaccurate-measurement-of-success/

Arti Patel of Lyons Township High School provides a counterargument from another editorial of the same school newspaper. In his editorial, Patel states that class rank allows students to be wary of their academic choices as the choices they make "may affect their academic records for the rest of their high school career" since high schools operate on a cumulative system. However, Patel argues that class rank should not carry as much weight as it should, as the cumulative aspect can only gauge a person throughout all four years. Patel states that a transcript and the grades that follow with it provide a more accurate evaluation of a student, as it provides the rigor of courses and the specific faults of a student. In addition, class rank separates a class, as the top tier students only see a small portion of students in the class due to the courses they have picked. Patel qualifies his previous statement, stating that a school needs a hierarchy in which students strive to be the best based on their academic needs. In the need, motivation keeps class rank implemented, but Patel lists other ways of motivation.

Research

http://www.eastside-online.org/opinions/class-rank/

 Karly Bader of Cherry Hill High School East states that class rank is "essentially a mathematical summary of a student’s academic record as compared to the mathematical summary of the other students in his or her class", giving class rank a stoic, inhuman quality. Bader voices the injustice of class rank in an elite high school, stating that intelligent students would flourish in other schools but are rank lower than necessary due to the harsh competition. Therefore, those students do not have equal opportunity to be admitted to certain universities due to their lower class rank. In addition, Bader advocates, "this school would essentially have to create two ranking systems—one based on academics and the other based on extracurriculars" due to a large demographic of students choosing to excel in arts or sports rather than traditionally academics. School admissions would take a more holistic approach towards ranking students, as they are excelling in a variety of parameters. Baders calls universities to consider that "no student can be represented by a single number since student dynamics extend beyond the classroom onto the field and stage". Universities should stop doing what's convenient for them and actually start looking at students holistically.

Research

http://www.lionnewspaper.com/opinions/2011/11/14/point-class-rank-necessary-for-success/

 Maggie O'Brien of Lyons Township High School states that class rank drives "competition, where the prize is college admission and potential scholarships" amongst the student body. Students are naturally competitive and curious towards the success, so class rank allows that curiosity to be "anonymous" where students will push themselves into performing better, and "Higher grades will thus be common among students". High schools will take pride in their high rank, and the ones who receive a lower rank will not fret either because it remains "anonymous".
However, O'Brien does not take into account of how the student who receives a lower rank will feel about themselves, making her argument less credible. Although the college admission process will be more efficient and "less stressful", colleges should view students more holistically. In addition, class rank offers a gauge of a student's admission, but that is not necessarily a good thing, as students will be discouraged from performing well and give up.

Research

http://www.njsba.org/sb_notes/20110524/surveyresults.html

The New Jersey School Boards Association posted a series of surveys that they conducted regarding public opinion on class rank. In one survey, the people who favor not including class rank in transcripts to the people who did was 42.4% to 40.7%, indicating that more people favored opting out of class rank but only by a slight number. In fact, the results appeared almost equal on both sides when factored in statistical accuracy. Comments indicate that "for districts that have a great number of high achievers, class rank may be a detriment to some pupils who are outstanding yet not quite at the very highest level", so larger schools may have less of a benefit from class rank as it hurts near top-performing students. On the other hand, small schools flourish from class rank as it provides the brightest minds to have even stronger applications.
In another survey, the NJSBA revealed that "Only 26.8 percent agreed that class rank gives a clear picture of a student’s academic achievements". Therefore, a large majority of citizens came to the consensus that class rank is ineffective in painting a picture of how strong a student is academically, therefore, colleges should not view it in the college applications. 

Research

Orthodoxy

Research

http://www.memo.mersd.org/2012/01/guidance-should-calculate-class-rank-to-help-high-achieving-students

Fiona Davis praising high school students with high class rank, as it is a "difficult and praiseworthy feat". Therefore, the top students should be given rewards for their hard work and excellent academic endeavors by receiving benefits such as a stronger application for university admissions. Davis argues that without class rank, top students will lose their advantage in the admissions process, which is unfair to them because they put in hard work to produce those results. Even though proponents of elimination argue that the increased competition hurt students, the elimination of class rank will even everyone out by "leveling the playing field by not calculating class rank puts all students at the same level in the eyes of colleges". That prevents top students from differentiation from the other lower students in the class, hurting their application strength.

Research

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/95361059.html

Research

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n-n9UX3Lc7IJ:www.texastop10.princeton.edu/reports/misc/basing_college_admission.pdf+class+rank+columnist+high+school&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Research

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-96591-Rich-more-likely-to-cheat

Research

How About Better Parents?

Columnist Thomas Friedman seeks to lighten the burden of teachers to give students a great education. In his column "How About Better Parents?", Friedman illustrates how parents give a significant influence in a student's education. Parents who are more active in the school life of their children produce children who score higher as opposed to parents who are more indifferent to their child's daily learning. Active participation can include asking how a child's day was a school, reading with the child at an early age, monitoring homework and rewarding their efforts. Showing a genuine interest in the wellbeing of a student can seriously boost their academic achievements. Regardless of socioeconomic background, parents who value the social connection between parent and student will see an average of 25 points higher in the PISA test, the "equivalent of well over half a school year".

Research

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=108&sid=87525ec6-89b1-48ee-948f-409fe597b7be%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ860918

The following study by Rebecca Zwick and Jennifer Greif Green revealed that "high school grades and class rank have larger correlations with family income and education than is evident in the results of typical analyses". Therefore, they state that high school scores and class rank are only associated with that particular school, as each administration grades differently. However, national tests such as the SAT or the ACT "have smaller associations with socioeconomic factors". These tests are without bias and are a better gauge of a student's academic prowess. A successful student at his or her high school can simply have the time and money to have additional study.
However, the same can apply towards national academic tests. Students of a high socioeconomic status have the resources to allow them to score higher in these aptitude tests, such as additional studies and practice tests that warrant money that students of socioeconomic troubles may not have. Therefore, this study is not completely credible. 

Research

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=19&sid=76ad4aa3-4f07-4929-8626-4c2b8432644b%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ763892

Research

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=127&sid=3509a59f-4f98-4c57-851e-b66e11ed466a%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ893892

This document is a study of the correlation between Advanced Placement tests scores of students in high school and their success in the first semester of their University life. This study shows that AP test scores better document the capabilities of a student as opposed to the outdated class ranking systems that high schools have adopted. The study stated that "Regardless of ethnicity, gender, class rank or SAT score, students with advanced placement earned higher first semester college GPAs than their counterparts with similar high school academic characteristics, but who lacked advanced placement credit". This document shows that AP test scores are a better indicator of academic achievement than any other score or category that the students fall into.

Research

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=122&sid=3509a59f-4f98-4c57-851e-b66e11ed466a%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ780518
This document covers the system in which high schools rank students. Test scores, difficulty of courses, class rank, and grade point average are the top four indicators of student success when applying to universities. In the study, 80% of high schools use a weighted GPA to determine rank, 12.6% determine rank with an unweighted GPA, 5% use both, and 2.4% use no class rank. Some school districts implement a bonus unweighted where AP/ honors classes have an additional "weight" to the unweighted GPA. In addition, many large schools are faced with numerous Valedictorians due to ties in GPA for number one in class rank.
Class rank is seen to "provide colleges with a measure of relative class standing [and] to provide the student with extrinsic incentives to take appropriately challenging courses while in high school to adequately prepare the student for a college curriculum". Both are means to increase course difficulty for students in order to challenge themselves and force them to grow.

Research

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Magazines&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE|A215121628&mode=view

The University of Colorado states that it will only admit students from the top 10 percent of their high school class. Many states have already implemented this policy, such as Florida admitting the top 20 percent and California admitting the top 4 percent. Texas universities have faced complaints that they admit a large percentage of students solely on their rank in school. School boards want a cap on students admitted solely by that policy. This policy has boosted minority enrollment in some states, but that was not the main purpose of the enacted policy. Colorado's new policy sets up a reachable criterion in which students are guaranteed admission.

Research

http://www.cbhscircuit.com/?p=54

Adam Birnbaum of Cypress Bay High School voices his opinion on class ranking in his high school. Birnbaum's column describes the importance of class rank at his school because rank, along with SAT/ ACT scores, are the two most important numbers for college applications. With class rank, students at Cypress Bay overfill their schedules with rigorous courses with the option to enroll in dual credit classes at the local college, Broward College, in order to receive additional AP 6.0 weighted GPA's. Birnbaum believes that this GPA loading is "cheating" and is unfair to students who cannot do this. In addition, Birnbaum feels that the dual-enrollment is merely for students who have interest in those additional college classes, not for students who want to boost their rank. Birnbaum believes that students should choose curriculums based on what students enjoy and that the rank system or the dual-enrollment should be altered or eliminated all together if the GPA loading does not stop.

Research

http://smeharbinger.net/opinion/editorial/editorial-class-rank-should-be-eliminated

An anonymous student from Shawnee Mission East High School advocates for the elimination of class rank at his or her high school in Kansas. The student believes that class rank is ineffective because its only criterion is GPA and doesn't take any extracurricular activities to account such as sports, musical talents, or artistic "prowess". In addition, the differences between two adjacent ranks is calculated to the ten-thousandth point; that minute difference determines the rank between students. Shawnee Mission East's principal agrees with the elimination, stating that "The reality is that schools should never squelch the dreams of its students". The principal believes that students should not be labelled with a number and that class rank misrepresents students in more elite schools such as Shawnee Mission East. 

Research

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/memorial-news/article/Class-rank-matters-to-many-universities-3323382.php

 Eight Texas universities have revealed their systems in enrolling prospecting students. All eight universities stated that class rank plays an important roll for incoming applicants. In UT Austin, students are viewed more holistically, taking in to account extracurricular activities, test scores, and school profiles. In addition, UT Austin allows the top eight percent of schools guaranteed admissions. If incoming students do not give a class rank, then UT Austin will simply assign a rank to them. Rice University's Julia Browning stated, "Class rank speaks to a student's willingness to compete". Most universities claim that class rank makes admission easier and more efficient. Texas A&M mostly looks at "rigor of courses and class rank". Class rank is mandatory for applicants there, or else they will not be admitted.

Research (Seventh Post of Many)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/education/claremont-mckenna-college-says-it-exaggerated-sat-figures.html?ref=us

Claremont McKenna College, a small top liberal arts school, admitted to inflating SAT scores of incoming students in order to boost rankings for the college. Officials were shocked that the dishonesty of the school and the motivation to commit such an act. The college will be removed from next year's ranking list for private colleges.
This article provides insight on the horrors of ranking systems. Claremont McKenna College resorted to dishonesty in order to boost their ranking, and the same may happen in high schools regarding students and students themselves regarding their own grades. In addition, this article further proves that students are merely viewed as numbers and scores under a ranking system.