We Believe…

Platte County High School will encourage and recognize

academic excellence in a spirit of cooperation, not

intense competition that sets one student against the other.

Ranking students creates situations where

students are deemed to be unacceptable for admission and/or are ineligible for scholarships

Rank overshadows the rigor of coursework on student transcripts

Ranking students results in an unhealthy environment of competition

Students choose courses based on their weight value rather than for long-term educational value

Issues with Class Rank

Academically accomplished students who are

not at the top of their class are negatively affected by ranking.

*without access to class rank, colleges are forced to evaluate a

student more thoroughly by considering:

-course selection -accomplishments

-GPA -school profile

-test scores -recommendation letters

Course selection becomes motivated by genuine interest rather than rank advantage.

Why High Schools are Making the Shift

Why High Schools are Making the Shift

Colleges consider the student in comparison to ALL other students and not just students within one high school.

*2 students from different high schools may have the same

class rank but vastly different GPAs, course history and

extra-curricular activities

Eliminating class rank reduces stress attributed to competition with fellow classmates.

High achieving districts in the St. Louis area have

already eliminated class rank: * Clayton *Rockwood *Francis Howell

* Hazelwood *Webster Groves *Ladue Columbia Public Schools eliminated class rank this

school year, starting with their senior class The use of class rank is not common practice in

east coast high schools Adlai Stevenson High School, pioneer PLC school,

eliminated class rank in 1999

PCHS Research

Institutions of Higher Education

a sample of schools that will NOT penalize for lack of class rank

Northwest Missouri State Truman State

UM-ColumbiaUM – St. LouisLoyola-ChicagoMissouri S&T

University of DaytonUMKC

University of TulsaMissouri State

University of ChicagoSoutheast Missouri

Park University Missouri Western

Columbia UniversitySaint Louis University

Cornell UniversityWashington University

Brown UniversityDePaul

Rice UniversityPrinceton UniversityHarvard University

Yale University

According to a report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC),

over half of all high schools no longer report student rankings.

Current Reality at Platte County High School

Current Rank

GPA

1 4.5

25 4.1

62 3.8

*124 3.3

Current Rank

GPA

1 4.5

25 4.1

62 3.9

*124 3.4

Current Rank

GPA

1 4.6

25 4.3

62 4.0

*124 3.6

Class of 2012

Class of 2013

Class of 2014

*A rank of 124 can be found at approximately the 50th percentile in all three classes.

Recommendation to

Amend IKC-APBeginning with the 2011 – 2012 school year, Grade Point Average

(GPA) and academic recognition upon graduation will be based on the following three-tiered system:

Summa Cum Laude (with highest honors) ~ 4.2 and aboveMagna Cum Laude (with high honors) ~ 4.0 – 4.19Cum Laude (with honors) ~ 3.8 – 3.99

This system will be based on a student’s weighted grade point average (GPA). A student’s GPA is determined by dividing the number of classes taken into the total number of grade points earned.

Grade points will be earned as follows: A = 4 points B = 3 points C = 2 points D = 1 point F = 0 points 1. The following courses will be weighted to include one (1) weighted

point of distinction: ~Challenge core courses ~AP courses ~Dual credit courses

2. Grade points will not be earned for an aide position (teacher’s aide, office aide, library aide, etc).

 3. Grade points will not be earned for any study hall or driver’s

education. 4. Any courses, not to exceed one-half (½) credit per summer session,

taken during summer school will be awarded grade points and will count toward

GPA. 5. Classes taken on a pass/fail basis do not count towards determining

class rank.

Platte County High School Recommendation

Current Achievement Tier Example

Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Cum Laude

Class of 2012

Class of 2013

Summa Cum Laude

GPA 4.2 and above

16 students

17 students

Magna Cum Laude

GPA 4.0 – 4.19

16 students

36 students

Cum LaudeGPA 3.8 – 3.99

26 students

29 studentsThe Class of 2014 has grades for only one semester

of high school and therefore was excluded from this data.

Platte County High School will encourage and recognize academic excellence in a spirit of cooperation, not intense competition

that sets one student against the other.

Based on this statement and data collected,

we strongly feel that this direction

is what is best for our kids.