Should Wisconsin high schools eliminate the practice of ranking students by grade point average?

Learn more when you don't go for 'easy As'

I am a senior at Waunakee High School, and I am all for dropping class rank.

I take many advanced placement classes and usually have a 4.0 grade point average. Recalling my freshman year, a friend and I decided to take AP English for the first time. After a week or so, my friend decided to drop the class because she was not getting As on her essays.

I wasn't doing the greatest myself, but I stuck with it for the entire year. Although I got my first B in that class, I learned the most during that year, and continued to take AP English throughout my high school career.

My friend who dropped the class ended up getting an A in regular English 9, but if class rank would not have been a problem, she probably would have stayed in the AP class.

In my sophomore year, I remember the valedictorian took all easy classes like Art 1 and Foods. Is it fair that someone who took all "easy A" classes gets to hold the position of valedictorian rather than someone who works hard in difficult classes?

-- Catie Anderson, Waunakee

Class rankings further marginalize 'have-nots'

While schools would be smart to devote resources to turning low achievers into high ones, these resources will be wasted until it is understood that the inequities of GPA and class rankings contribute to chronic low achievement.

Modern students live in an economic schism -- a world of haves and have-nots. Those of us in living in the "have" camp all too often overstate our own contribution to our being there, and those living on the side of the "have-nots" all too often hold the belief that no effort to rise from poverty will be enough.

High achievement begins in the mind, with the belief that with effort comes achievement and with achievement comes reward. Children growing up in homes of generational poverty have minds stripped of these beliefs.

Class rankings favor students with strong family support and a history that gives credence to the idea that with effort comes reward. Students without this structure and support cannot mentally compete within our archaic educational structure.

The problem of chronic low achievement and generational poverty will remain a social cancer until inequitable systems of competition are replaced with rational, achievable paths to realistic careers.

-- Aaron Briggs, DeForest

Manipulation, not learning, encouraged

The world would be a little bit better if high school class ranking was discontinued. Here are some of its flaws:

First, it encourages ambitious students to manipulate a desirable outcome artificially by winning the highest rank without consideration of whether that rank is truly merited or not. Clearly the student who takes the fewest risks in course selection achieves an undeserved competitive advantage.

Also, students who become expert at playing their teachers for top grades are also at an advantage relative to students with more integrity and character.

Adding to these problems is grade inflation both at the high school and college levels. The consequence of this inflation is that differences among top students is almost certain to be statistically trivial and without any substantive meaning regarding the assessment of "academic excellence."

Anyone with any math acumen must understand that there are statistical differences that are not statistically significant because the difference between the scores are simply too small.

-- Jac D. Bulk, La Crosse

Extra curriculars also rank top achievers

I am the parent of teens who are academically gifted to varying degrees. They demonstrate a combination of aptitude, motivation and the desire to challenge themselves. They've achieved high rankings in their senior class with hard work and definitely some stress.

They have also participated in a variety of extra curriculum activities such as sports, theater and music where students regularly experience stress in order to challenge themselves and reach their full potential.

In these extra curricular areas, my teens have not ranked as school or state champions, but they participate with enthusiasm, cheering on their teammates and fellow participants. They graciously and happily congratulate their classmates and friends who take first place in sporting events, first chair in the top band or the lead in the school play.

Why would we not celebrate academic achievement with ranking awards when this is the practice in all other area? After all, isn't one of the priorities of our schools to encourage students' academic success to their greatest ability?

-- Shannon Dolan, Madison

GPA and rank are poor indicators of success

Falsification of grades has been going on in schools since their inception, but convincing school authorities that grade point averages should be abolished is tantamount to heresy.

Grades come from tests given by a variety of teachers and are as variable as the subjects being taught. Some teachers are easy graders and some are not. Some average test scores, some do not. There's little consistency in school grading and testing processes. Students are rarely given opportunities to retake a test in order to better their grade.

Some of the smartest students have such negative attitudes about their teachers and the subject matter that there is little incentive to excel. Many good students tend to enjoy school for all that it offer -- athletics, clubs, music, forensics and socialization among peers.

For some leadership in high school is more important than playing a cheating game to get the highest grades, often by taking easy courses. Thinkers and problem solvers operate at a higher level than those who memorize to "ace" tests, regardless of their GPA. Rarely is an explanation given as to how a student's GPA was achieved. The GPA is not a prediction of future student success.

-- Jerry Kotnour, Madison, retired Madison Public Schools educator

Rank add unnecessary level of competition

Wisconsin's practice of ranking high school students based on their grade point averages creates unnecessary competition between students and ultimately threatens the success of the hardest working students.

This competition comes from the idea that every student must be within a certain top percentage of the class or they will not be accepted into college. Not only is this false, but the fear that accompanies this idea causes students to take easier classes in order to be ranked higher.

Class rankings in high schools discourage students from taking the most difficult classes offered in order to reach their highest potential. Instead, they may take classes that they feel guarantee them As.

As a hard-working high school student, I think ranking students' grade point averages puts stress on students to make straight As, rather than allowing them to work hard and learn as much as possible.

Our job as students is to learn in order to enter the working world with knowledge and strong work ethics, not to compete with other students about who has a higher class ranking.

-- Emily Henry, DeForest

College admission rules need to be changed

All four of my children graduated from Sun Prairie High and received their degrees from UW-Madison.

My oldest son, who has an engineering degree, said if he were to apply today, he would not be accepted. In high school he aced exams and scored high on his ACT and SAT, but had homework problems. He was a C+ student taking advanced placement classes, which lowered his class rank.

My second son, who knew how to play the game, made sure he got As in the class and was involved in extra curricular activities, resulting in his induction into the honor society. He graduated from UW Law School with honors.

My daughter took difficult math and science classes while her friends were only interested in getting high grades in easy classes. She watched her friends graduate with honors and high class rankings, but she is the only one with a college degree.

My youngest son was turned off by grades and requirements. Class ranking kept him out of the UW his freshman year, so he went to MATC, entering UW in his sophomore year with no problems and now working on his master's degree.

We never rewarded our children for grades. Though we had to fight the system, we set the goals for our children and nurtured them to succeed. Not all parents have that capability, which is why our outdated college admission rules needs to change.

-- Audrey Pendergast, Sun Prairie