Can I Be the Smartest One, Too?
Remember High School graduation (perhaps not, as some of you may have repressed the entire four years between ages 14 and 18)? Specifically, the envy (or hostility) you had toward the Valedictorian? You know, the person who, by virtue of having the highest grade-point average in the whole graduating class, could thereby be considered the smartest of them all?
Yeah, there's a school around here with 11 Valedictorians this year.
Statistically, it is probable that this happened because 11 students finished with a 4.00 (or 100%). I'm certain that the school board views that as a good thing. However, I can't help but wonder if the school's standards are too low that so many students could have done perfectly. It is as if the school had no more left with which to challenge their students. "They've learned all we have to teach them, and learned it perfectly." REALLY?! Because at my High School, the standard was high enough that the teachers could challenge even the "advanced" students with always having more to learn. Hence, ONE Valedictorian, and even she only had a 3.9-something.
And does this mean that all the other students get to be Salutatorian?
Yeah, there's a school around here with 11 Valedictorians this year.
Statistically, it is probable that this happened because 11 students finished with a 4.00 (or 100%). I'm certain that the school board views that as a good thing. However, I can't help but wonder if the school's standards are too low that so many students could have done perfectly. It is as if the school had no more left with which to challenge their students. "They've learned all we have to teach them, and learned it perfectly." REALLY?! Because at my High School, the standard was high enough that the teachers could challenge even the "advanced" students with always having more to learn. Hence, ONE Valedictorian, and even she only had a 3.9-something.
And does this mean that all the other students get to be Salutatorian?
posted by CMA @ 6:44 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:15 AM,
Rama said…
This issue has been bugging me for years. My high school had something like 6 a few years after I left. And yes, the standards are low. Case in point: my little brother and what his teachers considered "A" work (would have been maybe a "C" for me--and that's being generous).
But god forbid we make children feel like they're not good enough... that would hurt their self-esteem.
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