Northwest Arkansas Academic All-Star Team's quality goes beyond class rank

Fayetteville senior Ryan Kim talks with other members of the school's Science Bowl team May 4 at Fayetteville High School.
Fayetteville senior Ryan Kim talks with other members of the school's Science Bowl team May 4 at Fayetteville High School.

Class rank -- once a staple in gauging a high school student's accomplishments -- has diminished in importance to admissions officials at America's colleges and universities. Many high schools are doing away with rankings.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Darcy Olmstead, a senior at Fayetteville High School bound for Washington and Lee University, signs a check symbolic of her scholarship to the university Thursday during the inaugural Academic Signing Day in the Matthew Moore Library at Fayetteville High School. The school honored its top 21 seniors.

Class rank wasn't a factor when the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette chose its 2017 Academic All-Star Team, a group of 10 seniors from the region who've not only excelled in the classroom, but also given countless hours to community and school activities.

Find more information about high-achieving graduates http://www.nwaonlin…">here.

The team includes Fayetteville High School's Ryan Kim, a U.S. Presidential Scholar who has volunteered at the public library, led a Quiz Bowl team and worked as a research intern at the University of Arkansas. Kim is heading to Harvard University.

Then there's Shreya Majagi, a Rogers High School student who played varsity tennis, was first-chair saxophone and section leader in the band, and was president of several clubs and organizations -- all while compiling a 4.36 grade point average.

Majagi is part of the first class in the Rogers School District not to be ranked. The district opted to discard student rankings for a few reasons, said Charles Lee, assistant superintendent for secondary curriculum and instruction.

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High school graduation ceremonies

Today

2 p.m.

Decatur High School — Lloyd Peterson Gymnasium, 1498 Stadium Ave., Decatur

Tuesday

7 p.m.

Farmington High School — Cardinal Arena, 12329 N. Arkansas 170, Farmington

Wednesday

6 p.m.

Rogers New Technology High School — Barnhill Arena, University of Arkansas, 285 Stadium Drive, Fayetteville

Thursday

7 p.m.

Fayetteville High School — Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, Fayetteville Shiloh Christian School — Worship Center at Cross Church, 1709 Johnson Road, Springdale

Friday

5 p.m.

Rogers High School — Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, Fayetteville

7 p.m.

Springdale Archer Learning Center — Performing Arts Center, Springdale High School, 101 S. Pleasant St., Springdale

8 p.m.

Rogers Heritage High School — Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, Fayetteville

Saturday

8:30 a.m.

Bentonville High School — Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, Fayetteville

1 p.m.

Springdale High School — Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, Fayetteville Siloam Springs High School — Barnhill Arena, University of Arkansas, 285 Stadium Drive, Fayetteville

4 p.m.

Springale Har-Ber High School — Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, Fayetteville Prairie Grove High School — Tiger Gymnasium, 500 Cole Drive, Prairie Grove

6 p.m.

West Fork High School — Barnhill Arena, University of Arkansas, 285 Stadium Drive, Fayetteville

May 21

2 p.m.

Gentry High School — Bill George Arena, John Brown University, 2000 W. University St., Siloam Springs

May 23

7 p.m.

Fayetteville Adult Education GED graduation — Performing Arts Center, Fayetteville High School, 994 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Fayetteville

May 25

7 p.m.

Lincoln High School — Lincoln High School gymnasium, 1392 E. Pridemore Drive, Lincoln

May 27

3 p.m.

Fayetteville Christian School — Assembly building on the school campus, 2006 E. Mission Blvd., Fayetteville

May 30

8 p.m.

Haas Hall Academy (Bentonville and Fayetteville) — Town Center, 15 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville

"Statistically, it's insignificant when you look at the (grade point average) of the top students," Lee said. "And what ends up happening is, students focus on ways to beat the system instead of really focusing on an individualized, personalized learning program for them."

A student could manipulate the system by taking a less demanding course load and finish with a higher grade point average than students who really challenged themselves, Lee said.

Attaching "quality points" to certain courses is problematic as well, because it could lead students to pursue courses that aren't necessarily right for them, he said.

"And it becomes so much pressure on kids," Lee said. "I believe in competition. I'm a former coach. But there's healthy competition and unhealthy competition. And to me, ranking those kids, that's unhealthy."

Rogers also doesn't do valedictorians and salutatorians, but does offer three categories of honors based on a student's academic record.

Majagi, who plans to enter the School of Medicine at University of Missouri-Kansas City, said not being ranked "took some pressure off my shoulders, knowing I could spend some time on other activities where I could probably have a larger impact on the community."

Despite the lack of a ranking, Rogers High School still had a competitive atmosphere, she said.

"My class in general is very competitive, but I think competition doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing," Majagi said. "It will make you do more and go further."

Siloam Springs High School did away with rankings more than 20 years ago, said Principal Jason Jones. It does not name a valedictorian or salutatorian.

"I think it's great for the schools that do (rankings)," Jones said. "But for us, it seemed to cause problems."

He cited issues similar to what Lee discussed, including the possibility students will manipulate the system.

"I think there are so many variables there that it got to a place we didn't think it was healthy to do," Jones said.

Instead, the school recognizes all students who have a grade point average of 4.0 or above during commencement ceremony. Siloam Springs has 306 graduating this month; about 15 of them earned a 4.0, Jones said.

Looking out for No. 1

Still, the ranking of students is a tradition carried on at many schools.

Bentonville High School's valedictorian and salutatorian are the students with the top two grade point average who qualify for high honors. The top 10 in the class also are recognized.

Moushumi Sahu, another member of the Academic All-Star Team, ranks No. 4 in her class at Bentonville High School, which expects 1,077 students to receive diplomas at the school's graduation Saturday. Sahu reported having a 4.43 grade point average.

Sahu said she didn't feel much pressure to achieve a top ranking.

"For me, class rank was important, like getting the top 10 percent of my class," she said. "But after that, when I took advanced classes, it was more about my interest in wanting to learn more."

Some students undoubtedly stress out over their rank, "But I think as long as they try their hardest and take the hardest course work, they'll be fine," Sahu said.

Bentonville's ranking system came under scrutiny this year when Jessica Dias-Jayasinghe, a junior at Bentonville High School, complained about the district's method of awarding credits because it can give an unfair advantage to students who transfer into the district in the middle of high school.

Debby Nye, a Fayetteville attorney and friend of the girl's family, said Dias-Jayasinghe was knocked from the No. 1 ranking in her class by a student who transferred into the school.

The district responded by assembling a Credit Review Committee that studied what some peer high schools do and how much importance colleges and universities place on class rank when evaluating applicants.

The committee finally opted not to recommend any significant changes to the system.

Most of Northwest Arkansas' smaller high schools -- such as Elkins, Farmington, Gentry, Gravette, Lincoln and Pea Ridge -- also rank their students by grade point average.

Fayetteville High School and the Springdale high schools also rank students, but with a twist. Every student with a grade point average above 4.0 is ranked first in their class. Every student with a 4.0 is second. The rest are ranked in order corresponding to their grade point average.

Sixty of Fayetteville's 592 graduates this year achieved at least a 4.0, The average hovers around 40 per year, according to Lesli Zeagler, counseling department chairwoman.

Fayetteville's ranking system encourages students to explore extracurricular activities because they don't have to take the hardest classes to qualify for No. 1, Zeagler said.

"We have everything from a 4.44 down to a 4.0," Zeagler said. "And when you look at that list of students, you see a colorful quilt of involvement -- in band, in literary magazine, in athletics, in student council, in choir, in drama, in musical theater. You want that. You want them to grow their minds in all sorts of ways."

Higher education view

Class rank is not as meaningful as it once was for many, if not most, colleges and universities, according to Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions at the University of Arkansas.

Indeed, surveys conducted by the National Association for College Admission Counseling show the percentage of colleges attributing "considerable importance" to class rank in admissions decisions on first-time freshmen declined from 23 percent in 2006 to 14 percent in 2014.

McCray, responding by email to a request for comment, wrote rank is perhaps most meaningful when students are at the bottom yet still have a high grade point average -- an indicator of grade inflation, which can affect the way a university looks at a particular high school's grades.

Some believe rankings encourage high school students to take as many Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes as possible, leading them to "burn out" before they ever arrive on a college campus, McCray wrote.

"And poorer students often don't even have access to this race because of the number of hours they may be working," she wrote. "AP and IB offer terrific courses, but students should not feel driven to take them all with a 4.0 just so they can be ranked first in the class."

At John Brown University in Siloam Springs, class rank is "near the bottom of the list" among factors considered during the admissions process, said Don Crandall, the university's vice president for enrollment.

"We would place higher importance on the overall grade point average and look closely at how well candidates perform on academic classes" such as English, math and science, Crandall said.

The university requires an essay and writing samples, which can provide good insight to college readiness, he said.

"ACT and SAT scores also are helpful, but aren't always good predictors for academic success in college," Crandall said. "Probably the most important factor in any admissions decision is motivation, which does show on a transcript. It is the human factor that can only be determined by getting to know the candidate."

Casey Reed, dean of admissions at the University of Tulsa, said class rank is useful when evaluating how applicants have performed compared to their peers.

"We consider it as part of the big picture," Reed said.

The University of Tulsa, a private school, admits about 39 percent of its applicants each year. The most important factor in the school's admissions decisions is probably how much students have challenged themselves with a college-preparatory curriculum, she said.

Reed has worked in admissions at three institutions over the past 12 years. There are fewer high schools providing rankings than there were 10 years ago, she said.

"I do think this is less of an emphasis put on it," she said.

NW News on 05/14/2017

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