I've got a ranking quandry

<p>I just got a call from the powers that be in the HS. They flatly refuse to release the info. Oh, well. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm fairly sure that my D will not be eligible for money, anyway. Very frustrating. Why the need for top secret status, I don't know.</p>

<p>Have you tried informing the school that their conduct may be (read: probably is) illegal under the Buckley Amendment and if so would render them ineligible for Federal money?</p>

<p>Re: Post 40. Yes! In fact, at D's high school, the 2 most "impossible" graders are 2 of the English teachers. The most capable writers find it difficult to get "A's." (There's often one such grade in the class, with plenty of C's as well.) Imo actually one of these teachers is oriented by college standards, not high school, but in any case, there are not other options at the school, with small departments, small faculty.</p>

<p>Tanya, I wouldn't let this rest. You & your D are being harmed because the info is not being released to you. It's her rank, for gosh sakes! I'd be on the phone to the BOE first thing Monday. You'll want this handled before school lets out. I'm too lazy to read how the Buckley ammendment will apply, but take siserune's advice & mention it. Just the fear of being on the wrong side of the law might be enough incentive for the BOE to change their policy.</p>

<p>I can see that those arguing against ranking in general may have a valid point, but that's not the problem here. OP's daughter's school IS ranking, and is willing to reveal this information to a 3rd party. If they'll reveal it to a 3rd party, they have to reveal it to the student and parent. End of story. If they don't want to rank, they should stop ranking entirely and just tell the colleges "WE DON'T RANK." </p>

<p>If I were you, I'd research the link in posting #23. I think your school is violating the law. It's a bigger issue than whether or not your daughter will get a scholarship, it's a matter of privacy.</p>

<p>(Again, this differs from recommendations, which are OPINIONS. People may not give an honest opinion if they know the subject will see it. So recommendations can and should remain secret. But rankings are a completely different elephant.)</p>

<p>My high school many eons ago didn't rank. But they did supply colleges with the information if we were in the top 5, 10 or 25%. (Or bottom as well I assume.) I don't remember ever actually asking what my rank was. But I remember at the time thinking that that there were more than 5% of us achieving at the top 5% level. I suspect they reported more than 5% as being in the top 5%.</p>

<p>Rank at S2's HS is meaningless. A couple of years ago 44 were tied for number one, so a kid with one B for one semester for all 4 years was not in the top 10%.</p>

<p>Yes, Idad. That is exactly why I need to know. We have a large number of high-achieving kids who skew everything. My D's rank will most likely be much lower than it would be at many other schools. If the kids were allowed to share rank, it would not be an issue. Then lots of the superkids would be in the top 5% with their more-than-4.0's. But I'm fairly sure they are not allowed to share ranks, which pushes everyone downward and leaves kids who work hard for their 3.3--8's very low on the scale.</p>

<p>tanyanubin: My S who had a GPA in the range you described was ranked 185/405. He was accepted to his reaches and is happily at his first choice school, so I would imagine that Rank plays different roles at different colleges. It is particularly difficult where courses are not weighted. S took almost all honors and AP, but a A or B in these was the same as an A or B in "any" regular course.</p>

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Rank at S2's HS is meaningless. A couple of years ago 44 were tied for number one

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<p>That seems impossible statistically unless all the classes are Pass-Fail or the functional equivalent. What system do they have that lets 44 people tie for number one?</p>

<p>They all got 4.0's. What is interesting is that many (but not all) are enrolled in honors and AP courses.</p>

<p>The grading at that school must be very coarse or very rigged ("give 90 percent A's or else") for 44 students to have flawless records in 25 to 40 classes apiece.</p>

<p>The ones I know scored well on AP exams and many went to top schools, so they must have done something right. About 90% of all graduating students went to college, (central city public school), about 190 students went to to tier schools with many going to top 20, so the courses and grading must be pretty well respected.</p>

<p>No doubt it's a good school, but the grading is very undiscriminating at the top range for <em>44</em> students to all manage perfect (unweighted 4.0) grades across dozens of courses. If these are, say, the top 10 percent of the class, that means at least the top 30 percent or so in the average course are getting an A, or there is something strange going on.</p>

<p>I would estimate that if an A average is 3.75 and above, there must have been about 120 or so students in that range.</p>

<p>If 44 students are getting flawless grades it means something like 90-100 are getting at most a couple of A-minuses over 4 years, and on the order of 35-45 percent in every college prep course are getting a straight A. It sounds like there is serious grade inflation, or the courses are pitched well below the actual level of the students. Is that a typical picture these days at competitive high schools?</p>