Schools Should Abolish Class Rank

Alfie Kohn’s Article “How Not to get into College” analyses many key factors of how the current school system does not work and how we as members of society need to work together extensively to remodel the system to ensure the success of future students by valuing education over grades. By looking at how students only join clubs and and worship numerical grades only to impress colleges; students facing pressure from parents, teachers, and society to get good grades and succeed in life; and how students live through many mental health implications due to a multitude of factors surrounding their educational life, we can determine that systemic factors of this society have turned students of this generation into grade grubbers.

Throughout high school, students are prepped for college. Almost the entire curriculum revolves around getting into or being prepared for college. Many of these students are independent and intelligent individuals. College may be the perfect place for them. Linda Lee contemplates the fact that even though statistics show that college graduates make the most money, the statistics also point out that these students were “the brightest and hardest-working” students. There are also students that fall between the cracks of these statistics. Some students may be skilled in certain areas, but do not make the test scores to apply for a university. Others may be on the

A look back at the institution of education over the past 20 years will reveal that once upon a time a bachelor’s degree was long since considered the marker of ultimate success, the highest level of achievement that one could make in their lives. In those days, if for some reason you failed to march across the stage on graduation day after an epic, four-year stretch of high tuition, long nights studying, and unrelenting professors that found great joy in riding your back, then you had indeed failed at life.

In order to credibly appeal to the audience, Talbot interviews multiple officials such as “the principal of Sarasota High” (223) and a “Stanford education professor” (226); she provides multiple educated views on the valedictorian issue noticed in her writing. When the author mentions the interviewed authorities who are well educated and highly statured, a more credible argument is seen, and the audience believes her more because of all of the authoritative people who have personally experienced valedictorian issues and can confidently come to a conclusion on whether or not they are beneficial. Additionally, Talbot interviews students along with experts to defend her message that the valedictorian issue causes much more harm than benefits. She states that she recently interviewed “some students” who were “involved” in valedictorian issues (227). Then, she cites “two professors” and interviews a mother of a student at Sarasota High School to gain many perspectives on the topic (230, 231).

Being admitted into college is a difficult process, one that requires students to be diligent in their studies, engage in a number of extracurricular activities, and overcome the everyday pressures and challenges that high-schoolers face across the country. Admittedly, not everyone in the United States is born with the same opportunities as socioeconomic factors as well as historic injustices have contributed to a society in which some people are far more likely to achieve upward mobility – of which, obtaining a college degree is a necessary part – than others. While there is need to rectify this reality,

While becoming a valedictorian can be an honor to those who receive the title, others are debating whether or not valedictorians should continue to exist, or if it should switch from being exclusive to one person in a high school senior class to multiple high-achieving students with similar scores, GPAs, and effort shown throughout their high school tenure. In “Best in Class” by Margaret Talbot, the author emphasizes the idea that having only one valedictorian motivates students due to the prestige associated with the title, as shown through her use of logos and ethos throughout her essay.

For almost two centuries, the system of public education has honored the best and the brightest high school graduates with the honorable titles of valedictorian and salutatorian.Though these titles have been a valued part of graduation for what seem like the entire history of American public schooling, they are under heavy scrutiny as impassioned and angry parents, as well as their hardworking students, attack the idea of only recognizing one or two of the class’s most talented seniors. In “Best in Class”, reporter Margaret Talbot challenges the traditional system of choosing a single valedictorian by by exposing the emotional opposition to the system’s change or preservation; her use of emotional dialogue as well as far less emotional, far more objective writing style allows Talbot to emphasize specific ideas and opinions with syntax to avoid confrontation, while simultaneously establishing that it is time for the traditional system of valedictory to change.

Top students across the nation compete for the title of valedictorian each year, although very few actually receive it. Much to the detriment of the students, the competition can become sophomoric and pointless yet remaining intense and cut throat. In her article, “Best In Class”, Margaret Talbot conveys the message that the competition of valedictorian has unfavorable consequences through her use of diction and testimonies.

Journalist Alexandra Robbins ventures back to her old high school to examine the competitive efforts students are having to take to compete on the battlefield that is the education system in her book, The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids. Robbins explores the lives of multiple students who are stressed and pressured to maintain good grades and get into an Ivy League college. This text allows for intriguing insight on how the educational system has “spiraled out of control” and displays the different measures students must now take to be the best. Robbins’ The Overachievers is an eye-opening bestseller which exposes the social pressures and anxieties students must overcome in their high school lives as they attempt to impress and prove to colleges they are worthy of acceptance.

Fitting in is unnecessary. Embrace who you are. You will go through rough times in high school, but always stay strong, and never deny yourself said Neon Hitch. In ‘’Best in Class” by Margaret Talbot, relays a similar message that choosing only one valedictorian adds power to an already powerful social hierarchy high schools already create. Talbot releases this message to open the eyes of schools who decide to only pick one valedictorian and how people are taking school boards to court just to get the number one spot. She emphasizes her message by using informative diction and pathos from her interviews.

“Whatever you do, do not name a valedictorian,” remarks Kennedy, a quote in Margaret Talbot’s essay, “Best in Class.” This essay was published in the New Yorker Magazine in June 2005, but it can still be argued today. Talbot uses multiple quotes and sources to persuade her audience that there shouldn’t be any more valedictorians, and I agree. Valedictorians should be eliminated because it creates a division in the school, it’s unfair, and it’s too hard to pick just one student.

According the most recent national assessment recorded in the Washington post, “the nations high school seniors have shown no improvement in math and reading performances since 2009.” In the most recent years, education has taken a huge downfall. Since 2010, over 45% of students drop out. Many students have problems with the grading system, so many different testing programs and having to follow a set of rules and not expand on those rules. The education system needs to induce more creativity, enforce the ways on how education is important and elaborate more on the rules of grading.

A student can be excluded from their peer groups because they have a bad grade. Being left out can make a student not want to improve academically. If they get bad grades others will see them as a poor student and will expect them to do poor in life. The process most schools use to evaluate student performance is grade point average and class rank. The academic recognition programs that exist in the United States are driven by a student’s grade point average and class rank. Those measures serve as the primary method in establishing student recognition. If this ranking is not the sole factor in the recognition program, it is always included in the student’s assessment. The school culture recognizes individuals that are in the top one-third of the school’s class rank

Graduation is an exciting time in a person’s life, especially a high school graduation. When I think of family and friends gathering together to celebrate a joyous occasion, I feel I accomplished my strongest goal. It never occurred to me that graduation would be the end of my youth and the start of adulthood. Graduating from high school was an influential event that gave me an altered outlook on my existence. Life before graduation, preparing for graduation day, and commencement day overwhelmed me for reality.

During the past several decades, “ranking system” became an important factor of the way to measure people’s success or failure in the United States of America. This ranking system is applied to sports teams and companies in the world. This system makes them competitive, so teams and companies are able to gain more profits from those competitions. And it does make sense when ranking system is applied to sports teams or companies because their purposes are earning more money or being famous using competitions. However, this ranking system can be cruel to people who got lower ranking. According to the author Frank Bruni, problem is that this system is also applied to education system and this ranking system seems cruel. Therefore, high school students and their parents should keep away from the conventional belief that their success or failure in the future is already determined by their college rankings because test scores are not going to help you anymore in the real world.