By Scott Brinton
They happened to be cousins. One earned an 88 grade-point average, but did not fall into the top 50 percent of his class. The other had an 83 average. He placed in the top 50 percent. Guess who got into the college?
The one with the lower average, said Eileen Connolly, an assistant principal at Kennedy High School in Bellmore, who heads a district committee on class ranking.
The case sparked a discussion in the Central High School District. Should it rank students by grade point average, as was common practice then? Clearly, the student with the higher average was hurt because he had fallen shy of the critical 50 percent mark, yet he had the higher average.
After much deliberation, the Central District decided in 1995 against ranking students, except for the top 10 percent of the class, who would only learn their ranks in senior year. Now the Central High School District administration and Board of Education are weighing whether to do away with ranking altogether.
Connolly and her committee of educators, parents and students from each of the Central District's three high schools - Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham - recently explored the possibility of ending ranking and released their findings during the Central District Board of Education meeting last Wednesday.
"The college process has changed significantly over the past few years," Connolly said. A number of Nassau County school districts, most notably its top-performing districts, have eliminated ranking. Among them are East Williston, Great Neck, Jericho, Plainview-Old Bethpage, Plainedge and Port Washington.
The reasoning is two-part. One, competitive districts often have large numbers of students whose grade-point averages fall between 85 and 100, and whose rankings are separated by tenths, even hundredths of a point.
In 2007, the last student in the top 10 percent of his or her class at Calhoun had a 95.35 average. The first student not in the top 10 percent had a 95.33 average. At Kennedy, the difference was 95.76 compared to 95.67. At Mepham, it was 96.36 compared to 96.23.
A student just outside the top 10 percent at a Central District school might have a considerably higher average than a student at a less competitive school who falls within the top 10 percent.
Connolly said the committee surveyed 100 colleges and universities to determine how important class rank is in students' applications. Sixty-one responded. Several said that they considered rank when it was offered, but did not see it as a critical factor when not offered. The colleges focused their reviews of applications on the strength of a student's academic schedule - in particular classes in English, social studies, science, math and foreign language - standardized test scores, and grade point averages.
Connolly said Nassau school districts that currently rank students include Baldwin, Freeport, Hempstead, Malverne, Roosevelt, Uniondale, Wantagh and Westbury.
"Most high-achieving schools don't" rank students, Connolly said.
Eliminating rank would also save the district time in processing college applications. No longer would it have to calculate and compare hundreds of grade point averages based on arcane weighting systems to determine exact ranks. Saving time has become an important consideration for high school guidance departments because students are increasingly applying to several colleges.
In the past, the common practice was for students to apply to four universities or colleges: a "stretch" school or two, a moderately "safe" school or two, and one entirely safe school. Now, however, students are applying to many more colleges as the institutions become increasingly selective. Many, if not most students apply to eight colleges or more. Connolly said she's had cases of students who have applied to 32 colleges, particularly now that more than 300 colleges allow students to apply with a single common application.
The committee recommended to the Board of Education that it eliminate ranking. At the same time, it said the district should revise the school profiles that it includes with students' applications to better demonstrate the competitive nature of the Central High School District. And it should work more closely with students in helping them to write their college essays, which are seen as an increasingly important component of any application, and to improve results on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test and the SAT.
An alternative to ranking is the grade distribution chart, Connolly said. The GDC offers the exact number of students in a particular class and shows the percentage of students who fall within a certain percentile of their class based on grade point average, but it does not offer specific rankings. The GDC allows colleges to gauge where a student falls within his or her class, without knowing an exact rank.
Some parents wondered what the district would do about college scholarships, which often require a class ranking.
Others said that the district should not move ahead with any plan to do away with ranking until current high school students have moved on to college. They said many of the students have worked hard or are working hard to attain a certain rank. To remove that system would be tantamount to changing the rules of game once it's already begun.
Superintendent Dr. Henry Kiernan said the administration and Board of Education would deliberate on the committee's recommendations before reaching a decision. He did not offer a timetable for that to happen.
Comments about this story? Sbrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
