With a new school year starting Monday, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials and students have been discussing the possibility of removing class rank from high school transcripts.
This is a promising step toward reducing the immense stress and competition prevalent in schools in the Chapel Hill area.
District administrators have the right to do away with class rank and should be encouraged to bring this proposal to the State Board of Education for the second year in a row.
High school has become the place students go to prepare an impressive college application, but it should instead be a place for adolescents to explore interests, learn about themselves and take chances.
The class rank system limits students by encouraging them to take more rigorous AP classes in lieu of a subject that might interest them more but earn them fewer GPA points. Especially in a district as competitive as CHCCS, removing class rank will not cause students to lose motivation; in fact, it probably won’t do enough to decrease academic stress in schools, but it’s a start.
Many universities state somewhere on their website or application that the failure to provide class rank will in no way disadvantage an applicant.
Providing GPA or some other quantitative form of academic measurement should be enough. It should be clear to school officials and the Board of Education that class rank often misrepresents a student’s academic standing.
Teachers and administrators should remove competitive students’ obsession with class rank by scrapping it altogether.
CHCCS officials should be praised for taking a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the Board of Education will approve the removal of class rank from transcripts in the near future.
