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<p>Oh, that one shouldn’t be too hard to push. I don’t have advice on how to go about it but it would seem that is an easy case to make.</p>
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<p>While I already stated earlier that I sympathize regarding unweighted rank…I do not entirely agree with this statement, however. It is not misinformation as the GC must state on the School Report he/she fills out to colleges if the class ranking system is weighted or unweighted. Colleges are informed of how it is done at your school.</p>
<p>We also have students in OH taking college courses at local u’s. The principal keeps bring up weighting courses and how it is a nightmare. I can see it becoming a political mess. What I don’t see is the harm in just omitting the reporting of class rank. The college admission directors I spoke with stated that all a HS has to do is state “School does not rank” in their profile. It is a free and easy fix as far as I can see it, but if I proceed I am beginning to realize it would be a big to do. I don’t get it and am not sure my skin is thick enough–do I just turn my back and walk away?</p>
<p>"I met with the principal yesterday and he blasted me up and down. I admit I didn’t see it coming. "</p>
<p>and he told you you were the only one complaining right, and everyone else was happy with the status quo, right?</p>
<p>he’s probably told other people that as well. ;)</p>
<p>“I don’t get it and am not sure my skin is thick enough–do I just turn my back and walk away”</p>
<p>No one ever wins stuff like this on their own (well rarely). The key word is organize. Get others with similar concerns together. If you can just plant the seed, and move on, that may be enough, others may do the heavy lifting.</p>
<p>The scholarship selection committee member for the local state U came with me to the first meeting with the principal and GC. Yesterday, I stopped in before summer break to see how things were proceeding as he never responded back to my emails containing the quotes from college admission directors. I also gave him a presentation to the school board used by a committee in MN that I found online. </p>
<p>He did mention that I need to get a lot of people together to request change. I am not sure how I should best go about that. With my own being older now, I don’t know a lot of the parents of younger kids. I was older when I had my own. Should I approach the superintendent? Members of the school board that I know personally? I really would like someone else to do the heavy lifting.</p>
<p>wildwood, you don’t need a thicker skin (well maybe you do), what you mostly need is more company. I imagine other parents of kids taking difficult courses getting less than perfect grades will be happy to join you. I’d see if you can get the person who lost the merit scholarship and acceptance will help. </p>
<p>I somewhat prefer schools that rank using a weighted system if the school has students of lots of ability, because it does give an advantage to the top students who need every bit of help they can get. (My younger B+ kid was hugely helped by being in the top 10% of his class.) But it may well be easier to sell no ranking at all or at least an unofficial rank based on a weighted GPA which could be used for colleges even if it wasn’t used to determine valedictorians.</p>
<p>As for how to get started. In the past when I’ve worked on similar issues. I started with the parents of friends of my kids. Some may be willing to help even if they don’t have kids in the system. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to talk to the school board member, but I’d start with friends.</p>
<p>Wildwood, it honestly doesn’t sound like your battle to fight at this point.</p>
<p>I’d let someone else (who has kids in school and is affected by the policy) to attempt to change the policy.</p>
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<p>I don’t agree with bigtrees. My D initiated this change in policy and never stood to gain from it. She did it because she believed in it and had developed a well articulated rationale based on research and tried to effect change for those who came after her.</p>
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<p>There’s a big difference between your D and Wildwood. Your D worked on making the change while she was a student in the school. It makes a lot of sense for current students to try to improve things for future students, even if that change won’t affect themselves directly. And she did benefit from the the work she did - she gained leadership skills, time management, negotiation, and other life skills from doing the process. That’s part of what schools try to instill in students.</p>
<p>Wildwood isn’t a student herself and she doesn’t have college bound students in school anymore. I don’t think she is the right person to try to change the policies of the school because she (and her kis) are no longer affected by the school’s policy on ranking. I think it’d be very hard to get the school principal or other administrators to take the time to listen to her because she doesn’t have students in school that would be affected by the policy.</p>
<p>Actually I DO still have one more in the system. Sorry for the way I wrote that post. I have an upcoming JR with a current 4.0 who is president of his class. Sorry to say class president at our school is more of a popularity contest and his willingness to give a Thanksgiving speech every year. He very well could be affected by this as upcoming AP Chem does a lot of kids in!</p>
<p>Bigtrees, wildwood is a taxpayer and could gather up other parents in the community and bring the topic up with the principal and school board after research and developing a policy and rationale to back it up. </p>
<p>And she does have another child coming up the ranks. And she knows and likely cares about other children in the system.</p>
<p>I have avoided trying to make it seem like I was speaking up for my own, because I truly believe it is for the good of any kid taking the more difficult courses. Maybe I am wrong. I should just say, " You’re doggone right I don’t want it happening to my kid and you should be concerned about what it does to yours!"</p>
<p>wildwood - do you know any school board members?
If not, go to a meeting or two. Feel out the tone of the group and after you have been to a few meetings pick one member and make a phone call.
Have your spiel ready and make your case. Casually add that the principle was rude to you, a taxpayer.</p>
<p>If you have an ally or two, go either to the school board or curriculum committee with prepared remarks and offer a solution or two for consideration.
Of course you have nothing but good intentions for the kids in the district.
good luck.</p>
<p>As an intermediate step, I would suggest working with the counselors on the school profile. Make sure that it states that the school does not weight grades, and that class ranking is determined by the unweighted GPA. Perhaps not much help for public college admissions, but it’s a start.</p>
<p>If there is a PTA or other parent organization, giving a heads-up to parents of younger students would be great. You might even contact the PTAs at the middle schools that feed into your high school. Tell them that students applying to college from your high school are at a disadvantage for admissions and merit money compared with other, more savvy high schools. If you can, include a profile from a local private school that includes grade weighting and a statement that they don’t rank.</p>
<p>We have two new members on the board that I know personally. They are bright an eager to put academics first. They are new and the superintendent has a history of being intimidating. First hand, I have seen two sides of him. After hearing of my D (not from me) the one new member took it upon himself to speak to the superintendent about weighting classes. The superintendent reported that he polled the teachers and they were not in favor of weighting classes. I doubt very much that the teachers have any idea of how the class rank is being presented or its downward trend nationally. I am thinking of approaching at least one seasoned teacher about the class rank issue. One who, I think, would be a respected leader among the teachers. If, in the fall, the superintendent polls the teachers about class rank at least they would be more up to date as to what is happening.</p>
<p>I worked hard to get this changed at our high school. It took 4 years and was implemented for the class that entered the year our son graduated. I say “I” because the few other parents who were concerned about this and whose students did not game the system just complained among themselves.</p>
<p>Yes, Wildwood, the principal took the same path, but he said that the teachers and guidance counselors didn’t want to change. Weighting grades would “diminish the value of the grades earned by average students.” </p>
<p>My approach: not only did the unweighted system potentially penalize students taking rigorous courses (which was countered with the statement that colleges account for rigor), but the system actually disincentivized desirable behavior: the selection of rigorous courses. “Why should I take that AP/Honors/Advanced course if I know I can get an A in the easier class?” Th supporters of the status quo said, oh, but they should take the advanced courses because we tell them that colleges like that.</p>
<p>Right. 14 and 15 year olds always think 3 years ahead and do so very rationally, especially when the decision involves additional work and some discomfort.</p>
<p>Eventually I convinced the new superintendent that he needed to abandon rank altogether (remove the perceived reward) or weight. I would have been happier with dropping rank altogether, but change was achieved, eventually, though too late to benefit our son.</p>
<p>My daughter also conducted faculty polls with mixed results. </p>
<p>What you want to do is research area schools and others outside the area as to their policies. Talk to college admissions offices that your high school feeds into. Research this topic. Draw up a rationale and proposed policy. Try to find a way to present it to faculty and also administrators and the school board. Find some like minded parents or students to assist you so it is not all on your shoulders. </p>
<p>I agree about checking the School Profile as SlitheyTove mentions above. While not for the same reasons as you, we also asked to see the School Profile before it was sent to colleges and I found numerous errors on it that were not in line with the school’s practices and information. I pointed each one out to the principal and she had the School Profile redone. The way it was would have been detrimental to college applicants, particularly those applying to selective colleges. It was outdated and had false information on it!</p>
<p>I cross posted with mafool but she makes a point that was one of the points in the “rationale” my daughter wrote up after much research, to give as part of her presentation and that is the point students should be encouraged to take more challenging classes and not be penalized for doing so. The unweighted system reinforces the idea to take easier classes to achieve higher grades and class rank and know that colleges often look at rank for either admissions or scholarships.</p>
<p>Did the superintendent ask the teachers why they were opposed to weighting classes? I think teacher input is important here. If that’s a stumbling block, it might be worthwhile to speak to your child’s teachers and find out there thoughts. Having teacher allies can be useful in this if the superintendent’s excuse is that teachers don’t want it.</p>
<p>The school also needs to look at their policies as part of an closed system. Take colleges out of consideration for a moment and look at the reward systems in place.</p>
<p>We are discussing 2 of them. Individual grades and class rank. An unweighted ranking system effectively penalizes students who choose rigorous courses. If the administration agrees that they want students to take the most rigorous courses for which they are qualified, the unweighted rank system does not stand up to logical and impartial examination.</p>