Opinion
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion

No Child Left Average?

By Perry A. Zirkel — April 28, 2004 | Corrected: February 23, 2019 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Corrected: The story erroneously included Massachusetts among the states that have lowered the level for passing their examinations for receiving a high school diploma. Massachusetts has not done so.

Either we get honest and honorable about grades, or we toss them out altogether.

Admitting that students with a 3.2 grade point average were not in the top half of their class at the high school—and that more than 140 students in the school had over a 4.0 average—a superintendent in our region recently advocated dropping class rank. The reason, he explained, is that class rank actually hurts students’ chances of getting into college. Eliminating it would supposedly put them on a level playing field. His reference to the playing field implied, at least in this case, that his high school was one of the best in the country.

Various high schools around the country have already dropped class rank, particularly those that have a high proportion of students going on to college and that otherwise perceive themselves as elite. Other such schools have instituted similar measures, such as having group valedictorians, deleting the grade of D, and adopting weighted grades. As a result, students with GPAs of 4.0, or a straight-A average or higher, are no longer a rare breed.

Yet, at the same time, objective data show no corresponding increase in students’ overall academic performance. Scores for both the SAT and the ACT, which are the two major college-admissions tests, have, with minor ups and downs, remained basically level during the past two decades. In addition, the standardized tests used in several states as accountability measures for student diplomas have revealed disappointing results. Massachusetts and Virginia, for example, had to lower the level for passing because of their alarming failure rates. The same can be said for the longitudinal results for many of these self-touted “best” high schools.

Grades have various purposes. To the extent that they are normative, that is, based on a comparison with other students for the purpose of the competitive selection process, dropping class rank merely compounds the so-called “Lake Wobegon effect": Everyone appears to be, like the children in humorist Garrison Keillor’s mythical Minnesota town, “above average.” Without class rank, all we have left is the normative notion of B’s and, more strongly, A’s being relatively high grades.

Some students and parents engage in self-delusion, or the delusion of others. A 3.2 grade point average sounds pretty good, suggesting dean’s list and maybe the National Honor Society.

But are they fooling the colleges? Without class rank, the admissions people are likely to give less credence to grades and more to the much-maligned SAT. What else is likely to play a decisive role at competitive colleges and universities, which are buried in burgeoning applications that largely are filled with polished essays, superlative recommendations, and multiple extracurricular activities? “Legacies,” meaning parents and grandparents who are alumni? Hefty financial contributions? Is that a level playing field?

High schools that truly seek to help deserving students get into college—and that claim to be among the elite—have better, albeit more difficult, options open to them than the “gamesmanship” of eliminating class rank.

First, for example, they can eliminate grade inflation. If a 3.2 really were an above-average GPA, class rank would not be all that important. Moreover, the problem of establishing who should be the valedictorian and who should be in the other high academic ranks would be mitigated by not having the better students squeezed into the 4.0 ceiling, or breaking through into an infinite, or at least indefinite, level above 4.0.

Second, schools can succeed in raising students’ performance, such that a 3.2 average represents a student who does better on objective, validating academic measures than his or her predecessors did. With an honest, earned reputation of quality, such schools will provide “value added” to both GPA and class rank.

Third, schools can change the metric and the purpose of the grading, such that it is criterion-based, reflecting mastery of essential skills rather than accumulation of time-based credits.

Fourth, the self-appointed “best” schools can prove they deserve such status by producing high proportions of Advanced Placement successes, National Merit Scholars, high-achieving students in higher education, and other recognized signs of academic quality, thus providing a cumulative advantage for their college-bound graduates.

Since class rank is not the problem, eliiminating it is not the solution. As Pogo pointed out, the enemy very often is us. Either we get honest and honorable about grades, or we toss them out altogether. Play the game fairly or change it.

Ironically, competitive colleges and universities, where grade inflation often is the most rampant, are experimenting with adding class rank—in this case, along with the grades for each class—as a way to be more honest with graduate schools and employers (the B-plus was below average).

Any way you slice it, using inflated grade point averages and dropping class rank is an ultimately self-defeating pretense that is even beyond “no child left behind,” confusing the aspiration with the accomplishment that every child is at the top.

Perry Zirkel is a professor of education and law at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pa.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Want to Motivate Students? Give Them a Meaningful Taste of the Working World
Work-based learning experiences can help students understand why the classes they are taking are relevant to their future success.
7 min read
A nurse supervises a young student standing at the foot of a hospital bed chatting about the medical chart that she is holding.
E+/Getty + Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness A Lesson in Eggonomics: The Story of Soaring Prices and Industrious High Schoolers
California agriculture students are undercutting grocery store egg prices—and learning big lessons in the process.
4 min read
Cardboard egg cartons sit stacked on the shelf of a grocery store cooler case.
Eggs are displayed on store shelves at a grocery store. Egg prices surged in late 2022, giving agriculture students hands-on lessons in supply chain issues.
Ross D. Franklin/AP
College & Workforce Readiness Photo Essay PHOTOS: Cars, Canines, and Cosmetology—All in a Day's Work
EdWeek photographer Morgan Lieberman reflects on her day with Dean McGee, a 2023 Leaders To Learn From honoree.
2 min read
Students Fernando Castro and Eric Geye’s, part of the Auto Technology class, show Dean McGee the vehicle they are working on at the Regional Occupational Center on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Bakersfield, Calif.
Dean McGee takes a look under a vehicle alongside students from the auto technology class at the Regional Occupational Center, in Bakersfield, Calif.
Morgan Lieberman for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Leader To Learn From Building Skills for Independent Lives: A Leader's Vision for Students With Disabilities
Dean McGee of Kern High School District in California draws on his personal experience to improve and expand career-technical education.
7 min read
Dean McGee pets Sydney while visiting the Veterinary Technology program at the Regional Occupation Center on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Bakersfield, Calif.
Dean McGee, deputy superintendent of educational services and innovative programs in the Kern High School District, pets Sydney while visiting the veterinary technology program at the Regional Occupation Center in Bakersfield, Calif.
Morgan Lieberman for Education Week