Abolish Class Rank
"If you ain't first, you're last." ---Ricky Bobby, Taladega Nights
May 24, 2019
About four years ago, several parents and teachers came to our high school’s Building Level Planning Team (BLPT) with a concern: too many students, early in their high school career, seemed preoccupied with their numerical rank. Two years later, the ranking system as we knew it was eliminated.
“Imagine taking a test where your grade depends on the scores of the students around you,” Dr. Davenport explained to me. “It makes no sense. In theory, everyone should be able to get a 100.”
However, the ranking system wasn’t eliminated—at least not altogether. Rather, the practice of automatically rank-ordering students was. High schoolers who don’t want to know their rank don’t have to; their rank won’t appear on their transcript. But those who do can find out by going to their guidance counselor and simply asking.
The BLPT introduced Latin honors to compensate for this shift away from numerical ranks. These honors include Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude, and they mirror the system present within most American universities.
Now, a student with a GPA between 93.00-99.99 will have the words “Cum Laude” on the top of their transcript instead of a rank. For Mr. Heywood, that’s important.
“The only reliable record for academic growth and achievement is one’s transcript—not rank,” he argued, explaining that the high 90s-low 100s range is “so condensed.” Other students, including senior salutatorian Logan McDonagh, have echoed this sentiment. “From just outside of the top 10 to the low 20s, it shifts like crazy,” he told me. Senior Cameron Cantine, who has a 98 average, added that “in one semester, [his] rank moved ten spots.”
With a GPA garnering Cum Laude distinction, I asked Cameron if he felt it worthwhile to list his rank on the Common App. He said no, joking that it probably would have hurt him.
Naturally, the question then becomes: who does ranking help? Mr. Heywood explained that while he’s always sensitive to low-ranking students, he also doesn’t want to “minimize the pride of those highly-ranked.”
While valedictorians everywhere can agree that their rank is a plus when applying to colleges, many also attest to the burden it places on them. This year’s valedictorian Caroline Voorhis told me that she doesn’t like talking about her rank.
“I’m not trying to name names, but there was some sort of malice with my rank, and people saying stuff because they were lower.” She added that, “I hope I’m not pushing people down.”
The current eleventh grade valedictorian (who wishes to remain anonymous) told me that their rank has put a lot of pressure on them. “Somehow it gets out,” they began, “and it becomes the only thing you’re known for.”
“If rank didn’t exist, it would lessen my anxiety significantly.” — Valedictorian, Class of 2020
What’s worse, the junior #1 explained to me that they are put at odds with the junior #2. The two are close friends, but the junior #2 has been encouraged to overtake the current val. Ranked #2 my sophomore year, this was my experience, as well.
Of course, aiming higher would be a strategic move for a salutatorian, and the push to overtake your peers is understandable. But in a small school like ours—where everyone knows each other’s ranks—it puts students in uncomfortable positions. Essentially, one classmate’s “gain” necessitates another classmate’s “loss.”
“If rank didn’t exist,” the eleventh grade valedictorian finished, “it would lessen my anxiety significantly.”
The current tenth grade valedictorian (who also wishes to remain unnamed) feels unnerved by the system, as well. “I feel like it creates this aura of competition. People try and use people to get better grades, or they’ll withhold information.”
They added that their rank makes them feel “self-conscious,” and that they wish they weren’t informed so early on; “it’s easily changeable; I’d be devastated if it became drastically different.”
All of the valedictorians were informed of their rank freshman year. After speaking with Dr. Davenport, it became clear that he was not aware of this.
School board policy requires that we name a valedictorian and salutatorian third quarter senior year, but he strongly disagrees with the practice of calculating rank early on. “I would want to talk with the BLPT, guidance counselors, and faculty about this.”
When I asked him if he thought we needed to name a valedictorian at all, his answer surprised me: no.
Dr. Davenport described another school district in which he worked where ranks didn’t exist. The system worked fine, and at graduation the students voted on a peer speaker. “I think there are other ways to recognize academic achievement that are more meaningful and healthy for our students.”
In fact, there are myriad systems outside of the one we employ now. Caroline expressed to me that she likes the idea of celebrating two sets of vals and sals: a weighted and an unweighted pair. Logan told me about his friend’s school where only the top four students are announced (order not specified) and a graduation speaker is invited from the top 20% of the class.
So long as we honor the ranking system, we tell our students that if they’re not ranked number one, someone else is smarter and working harder. And for those on top, the pros don’t always outweigh the cons.
“I would prefer not ranking at all. Just using the Latin honors,” the sophomore #1 admitted. “People would still work hard, but they would work together. It wouldn’t be a zero-sum game.” They paused.
“But as long as our school does rank, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be #20.”