by Lillian Ali January 26, 2022
For any students who haven’t yet heard the news, Centerville High School is abolishing class rank for the Class of 2024 onward. Ask the student body for their opinions on this development and you’ll be met with everything from sighs of relief to groans of disappointment.
Schools nationwide have been getting rid of class rank, along with titles such as salutatorian and valedictorian. In fact, school districts of Mason, Springboro, and Tippecannoe have not named a valedictorian for several years. According to information collected by the Dayton Daily News in Spring of 2018, only about half of the 57 Dayton high schools reported on named a single valedictorian and salutatorian. The rest had ties, shared titles, or no valedictorian at all. While getting rid of class rank may seem like a major development, it is the logical next step in a growing trend in area high schools.
One reason for this change is that class rank has fallen out of favor among college admissions officers. According to a 2018 report by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, 62.7% of colleges surveyed attributed “limited” or “no importance” to class rank in admissions decisions. In the decade between 2007 and 2017, the percent of institutions surveyed that attributed “considerable importance” to class rank fell by 13.7%, from 23% to 9.3%. Class rank and GPA don’t represent what they used to. They’re less a measurement of academic ability, and more a measurement of how much a student can game the system. Students strive for success, an ill-defined concept. A definition of “success” is never settled upon, and well-meaning high schoolers drown in the hypercompetitive dynamics of “high-achievement”, sacrificing their mental health in the process
To use Centerville as an example: say two students, both taking no honors classes, got straight As in all four years of high school. That would be an impressive 4.0 GPA for each. Now, say one student took four years of an honors elective course, such as a performing arts class, and got straight “H’s”. They would end up with a 4.17 GPA. The other student would have a lower rank, even if they had the same academic ability, and did not have the training or opportunities to take that elective course for honors credit. Not all students can make the (often substantial) time or money commitment required for performing arts ensembles, but a single number doesn’t tell you that story.
This isn’t to say that students don’t deserve extra recognition for challenging themselves, nor is it to minimize the amount of effort that goes into being in an elective or performing arts class. Class rank nonetheless measures opportunity more than it does ability. It measures whether or not you’re able to play an instrument at the honors level, or have the time to take courses at local colleges, otherwise known as College Credit Plus (CCP) courses.
More importantly, class rank takes a toll on students’ mental health. According to a 2019 Dayton Daily News article, Mason school officials cited student mental wellness as a reason to shift away from class rank. Tippecanoe High School principal Steve Verhoff also referenced mental health as a reason for doing away with class rank, along with students’ tendencies to select classes based on GPA instead of genuine interest. Many students avoid taking non-honors arts classes, life skills electives, or put off required classes such as PE or health until the second semester of their senior year to ensure the highest attainable GPA.
The fact is, even if class rank mattered to college admissions officers, it is not worth the toll it takes on student mental health. Seven in ten high schoolers don’t sleep enough, three in ten teenagers feel tense and nervous on a daily basis, and six in ten teens feel a lot of pressure to get good grades. The rise in student mental illness is, at least in part, a result of the mounting pressure modern students face.
Last month, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning about the mental health of the nation’s kids and teens. Among other things, Murthy cited students feeling like they’re “just not [good, rich, pretty, etc.] enough” as one of driving forces behind the crisis. Indeed, many students are fixated on their perceived inadequacies, and, as much as high school administrations would like to avoid admitting it, school culture promotes this focus. The constant competition integral to class rank and GPA harms students.
Student mental health is a crisis. High schools must extend support to students, not make their mental health worse. Abolishing class rank is important, but it is merely the first step in a process that must place student mental health at the forefront. While some students may be disappointed that their plans of gunning for valedictorian or a perfect 5.0 are behind them, countless more students will benefit from a less toxic school culture.
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