District 155 Considers Eliminating Class Rank

Several school districts throughout the Chicago suburbs have recently considered the option of eliminating class rank and now District 155 is following suit, according to the Northwest Herald.

School board members this past week asked staff to provide more information on the downside of potentially eliminating class rank at its schools and is set to pick up discussions again at its meeting next month, the newspaper reports.

The argument in support of eliminating class rank contends some students are negatively affected by class rank when applying for college and that class rank also encourages students to take non-weighted classes instead of more rigorous classes, such as AP courses, according to the article.

Cary-Grove Principal Jay Sargent said there is a student at his high school who has a 3.65 GPA but is not ranked among the top half of students in his grade, the Northwest Herald reports.

“This is a young man who challenged himself, took several (Advanced Placement) classes and he wasn’t the type of kid who was going to get an ‘A’ in all those classes,” Sargent said. “He took classes because they were valuable to him and he wanted to stretch himself. And yet, because of class-rank, he was penalized as a result of that at many universities.”

Read more on the Northwest Herald

And tell us in the comments section: Do you think local school districts should get rid of class rank?