<p>marite:</p>
<p>Our school seems to do its best to keep everything quiet. In the ten years I've been involved in the school, I once saw a list of honors students, tucked away in some obscure corner. NMS Commended and semi-finalists were invited to a special breakfast before school, but their names were not publicized. A list of colleges to which students were admitted early was published last year but, of course, without names or stats.</p>
<p>Our school gives honor roll for straight As, so every one knows who has an A average. Interestingly, as a private school with all kids headed toward university, some years the kids are really into comparisons and some years not. My older kids class was bizarrely competitive, way more kids than could qualify applying to Ivy schools, retaking the SAT, etc. One kid still bears a grudge against the kid who got into "her" Ivy of choice, taking "her spot"...never mind that kid #1 is still sttending an Ivy! It was not very pretty; some kids took and retook the SAt 3-4-5 times in desperation, others took it once and were content.</p>
<p>Every one learns their decile, but not exact rank, there can be a bit of competitiveness amongst the kids, but since the ranking is done on exact percentage scores, unweighted, you have no one to blame, but yourself. My older kid would have been higher ranked to take less of the hard core APs and get "higher %" As in honors classes, but she follwed her heart and that's what's important.</p>
<p>This year's class does not have that intense energy; however, when my DD surprised her self with an SAT score 200 points higher than the 1st sitting (no prep) which definitely put her into the pool for some schools she'd not thought an option, but whose sport teams appealed to her, she was thrilled and shared the fact with a couple of close friends, but the end of the day, random people who she doesn't even know all that well were congratulating her and I have had other parents compliment her; the news flew through the school, not in a bad way, but she was amazed, she only told a couple of friends who would share the excitement with her.</p>
<p>For the most part our school keeps it pretty quiet. They do announce National Merit (we only had 2). The kids don't seem to talk about their rank and test scores. If anything they downplay it or talk about how bad they did. As someone else said the kids say they have more important things to talk about. Most don't even know where their friends want to go to school. From parents who have moved here from other parts of the country they are shocked at how unimportant it seems to the kids here. They write it off to well it is "California." At times I wish the kids were a bit more competitive.</p>
<p>Dear, heavens, coureur, did they include shoe size? Our school does Headmaster's list(higher) and Honor Roll, but such a high percentage of the kids make one or the other it is almost meaningless, and a badge of honor amongst the football team to make neither. They also make a big deal about awards day, and announce Nat'l Merit Commended and Semis, but would never give out numbers. Like Voronwe, so much space is given to sports, it is good to see academics as well. They also emphasize community service in recognitions, and are moving toward more of that, which will bring recognition to another group as well.</p>
<p>Do to confidentiality reasons, many public schools in Calif. no longer post honor rolls, but our school district does weight grades (5.0 for AP or upper level honors). And, many schools don't rank bcos of the perceived unfairness....for example, someone who is passionate about music may take 4 years or more, but, such a class won't earn honors points. Thus, a kid could take 8 classes, including orchestra, dance, theater, and 5 APs, and end up with a lower weighted gpa than someone who only took 4 AP's, assuming all grades were A's. Kids even ask to participate in marching band, without the class credit and class grade so that it won't bring down the gpa.</p>
<p>That being said, nearly everyone in the senior class knows who the academic stars are, bcos they've been study group leaders for four years, even if they don't know the gpa and test scores.</p>
<p>Actually coureur..that's the way it should be! It is an accomplishment for all..parents, student, school district, and community when someone gets accepted into Harvard. "It takes a village." You should be very proud!</p>
<p>I guess I don't see what the problem is: sat scores, gpa, exam results are what they are, kids seem to accept those facts for what they are worth and move on...should they also keep which colleges they get in to a secret?</p>
<p>My son has a vague idea about class ranking - who the val's will be, who had their 4.0 busted by the history course, and so on. His school sends very few kids out of state, so potential competition with his classmates is not an issue. He doesn't ask friends about such details.</p>
<p>Like coureur's D, my nephew had his stat published - but in the local newspaper. He pulled an 800V in the SAT's. Article, quotes, big picture of nephew with back-pack, GPA, college plans. He's a good kid and it didn't go his head or cause resentment.</p>
<p>Idler, I respectfully disagree. Telling where you are going to college is like sharing your plans. Telling where else you got in is ok I suppose but does not serve that much purpose unless a close friend type thing. But college plans is not the same as sharing stats. I see no reason or need to share stats other than comparison purposes. I mean I can share what our jobs are but that does not mean I share our income. I see it a bit like that.
Susan</p>
<p>Point taken about keeping college plans secret, Susan, I was just kiddin' about that--but, at least at my kids schools, these scores and gpas just get out, for all the reasons above, and because they're public knowledge, there's no mystery about it. It's transparent, as they say. I'm interested in the analogy to income, above: if everyone at a large corporation kept their income secret for fear of appearing vulgar or whatever, how would anyone know that women were paid 20% less than men?</p>
<p>I find it amazing in Calif. that it becomes a confidentiality issue to post HONOR ROLLS. Now I've heard everything! Don't get it. It's a stretch.</p>
<p>In our newspaper, if you are caught stealing a blouse from a dept. store, your name and town residence is listed! One time one of our school board members was in there for a similar heist!!! No foolin!</p>
<p>One thing that is helpful about sharing stats is the reality check it provides for the up & comig students. We've all heard the CC stories about counselors telling kids they can get in anywhere and then seen the disappoointment. My current student is vastly more realistic in her expectations than her older sibling, in part because of all we learned watching the older kids: knowing who was wanted by coaches at top 10 schools, but did not break 1300 and did not get in or who wanted a certain Ivy, but could not get 1400 & did not get in; whilst Miss 1500+ seemed to easily gain admittance was a reality check as to the gatekeeping affect of those scores. Though of course, the quality of letters of recommendation is not known.</p>
<p>I know the GPAs and ACTs of only the top ten percent. They are the only ones who can possibly be a threat to my Salutatorianship. (haha)</p>
<p>In my D's school..the underachievers got into the better schools based on higher SAT scores. SAT scores DO matter, sorry to say.</p>
<p>I don't think S's school makes a big deal about class rank. There is some buzz about SAT scores. Some surprises there since some kids who were not outstanding students did get some top scores, if they are being reported accurately. None of my boys knew their scores but for the few minutes after they glanced at them and would have to refer to the generic common app and look them up any time they were asked. As for their grade point averages, that was always a such a touchy subject that I doubt they knew that. Though S2 did very well last year when he was grounded, he didn't seem to get any lift from that. I wish he were more concerned about his academic credentials. I think that is part of his problem. On the other hand, there comes a point were there is too much obsession over gpa, class rank, SAT scores with some kids who would be better off using their minds and time making themselves a bit more interesting and enjoying life. There is a point of diminishing returns with those numbers and a lot of the kids posting on CC have gone way beyond that point.</p>
<p>At my D's high school, some kids talk about their gpa's and some don't. My son, a graduate of the same school, was not one to talk about or compare his gpa to others--and for good reason (it was low). But he did know that one of his friends had a 4.8, because of some award he got. Also, an alumnus of the school started an "800 club" at the school, where a cash prize is given to those who score 800 on either part of the (old) SAT, so the kids that accomplish that are recognized publicly. But D knows some GPA's of her friends because she hears them obsessing about it, usually in the vein of "my parents are gonna get mad if I drop below a 4.5" or something similar. So, while it is not an ultra competitive environment, and most of those obsessing are not aiming for the Ivies at this school, it seems pretty common for kids to discuss their GPA. The middle school my D went to had a special lunch for those in 8th grade that got a 4.0 for three years of middle school. Actually, I didn't know about that until someone asked me why D wasn't there. This person had wrongly "assumed" my D had a 4.0. Kind of a funny situation, where I ended up "explaining" why my D didn't go, that she did not qualify, and it seemed like the other person felt like they had won some sort of competition. I have to say that I was a grade grubber in my youth, and have tried to instill in my kids the opposite --that while I want them to do well, a less than perfect GPA is not something to agonize over or beat yourself up about. Apparently with my older boys, I succeeded too well!</p>
<p>One thing I found very distasteful a few years ago when my oldest graduated was a dinner I went to at our church for the graduating seniors there. We were supposed to prepare a little speech about our kids. I couldn't believe how many parents stood up to talk about their kids and started with "my daughter was an excellent student at ABC High school with a 4.2 grade point, etc.etc." I found it completely tacky and weird. And I think I would have felt the same way even if my oldest had had a high GPA (which he did not).</p>
<p>I believe "TACKY" is the word! In my neighborhood, you woud be ostracized if you bragged about your child's GPA!!!! And to do it publicly, no doubt! I must admit I was often embarrassed when my S's name would come up even many years later in the hallowed halls of the high school because he was an early entrant into H. They used to make it almost sound like he was a freak of nature. Maybe he was in that community! Very small gene pool, I suppose.</p>
<p>The differences between what schools do is fascinating! D's has no ranking and no valedictorian or salutatorian, but they do give out prizes for various subjects and ecs and community service at a special ceremony which I think is held the Friday before graduation. Honor roll/Dean's List is not published nor is a list of colleges to be attended, with or without names. Since the seniors actually graduate in February, it's hard to find out where they're going to attend college the next year even through the grapevine. They did send out an email listing the names of the national merit semifinalists and commended scholars, and if someone does something particularly noteworthy (either academically or service-oriented) I get an email about that too.</p>
<p>In our district...they publish a list of colleges that the graduates are accepted to as part of a district mailing. Comes out of the superintendent's office. But the list is very misleading....no one knows what student got into where...so they year my S graduated...and I would like to brag here...they listed all the schools he got into!!!! At least 7 highly prestigious colleges out of a graduating public high school class of 64 kids.....the public never knew they were all for one kid!</p>