<p>I know pretty much all the SAT scores and ranks of the kids of my classes. However, my school must be understood. </p>
<p>My class of all boys has 220 students. The class has three tracks: honors (first track), second track and third track. The 90 first track students were further divided up in freshmen year according to how well they did on the entrance exam. We dubbed these classes smart honors, regular honors, and fonors (fake honors). I've been in the "smart honors" class every year. We figured it out pretty early that they did this. When we realized that practically everyone in all our classes was going to school on a merit scholarship. This year it has become the AP track but only 3 kids myself included took all the AP's.</p>
<p>Anyway, of the original 35 kids in the freshmen year smart honors class, around 25 have been in the smart honors class every year for all 4 years. 10 or so kids "joined" in sophomore year after doing well in freshmen year, these were kids from the other two honors classes. The 10 other kids went to other classes, not living up to how well they did on the entrance exam. So obviously, if I'm having the same 35 kids in at least 6 of my 7 classes (everything but language class) every year, I'm going to know them well. I'm going to find out what their ranks and SAT's are just by talking to them for so long. I don't know any ranks or SATS outside of the smart honors class though. So basically all the kids in the top ten percent are in all of my classes. A few kids from the second track got straight 100's in second track and sneaked their way into a few AP classes, but these guys are kinda seen as "outsiders" as they haven't been with us all this time.</p>
<p>Kinda weird, yes. But I know all 35 of these guys really closely... at least I'd like to think so.</p>
<p>That was MY high school....in the '60's. PRETTY SCARY to think Philly is still doing this! I'm no saying that it is WRONG....I just thought tracking was obsolete in this day and age. very interesting...</p>
<p>Wow, Chocoman, what do you guys do for fun :D! Actually, the AP classes in DD's school are very much like that, but by default, not design. THere are only about 10 kids - the few, the proud, the AP Physics class of 09!</p>
<p>In our AP English class we put the top 20 in the class on the board. Our honors students are all really close so I know the approx. gpas of most and the Sats of some (not sure if they are exagggerated, as that can always be tempting). I dont like talking grades/sats cuz it just makes ppl upset if they arent as good as some1 else.
Michele</p>
<p>Chocoman....well, in any school, ours included, kids know who are the achievers academically and who are not. It is easy to know who is in the honors tracks here as there usually is just one section for each honors class. And like Cangel, there were maybe ten or twelve kids who took AP Physics last year. So, it is not like a secret who are the "better" or "Top" students. It is just that I don't think my D was aware of their GPA, test scores, or rank. Toward the end of senior year, who was ranked in the first three or four places was known as it pertained to graduation a bit at that point. So, yes ,kids know who is at the top so to speak. Here, pretty much the top ten percent or so are in NHS. It is just the stat type stuff, I don't think is shared as much as I hear about in other communities, nor are kids applying to same colleges as one another necessarily to the degree as elsewhere. </p>