How American schools rank students

For high school students in the US, high school results are extremely important because high scores and rankings will give them an advantage in university admissions.

The proposal to eliminate the ranking of students by score was made at a conference on happy schools in Hanoi on the morning of October 20, and received support from many people. According to someeducation managers, this will help reduce the pressure of scores in schools. However, in many countries, such as the US, ranking by score is still popular and important in the secondary school system.

Mr. Tran Dac Minh Trung, a master of education at Harvard University, said that about 50% of American schools have student rankings, most commonly in public schools.

"Public schools will have two rankings: school and state. For example, if a student is ranked 17th in their school, what percentage of the state is that ranked them?" Trung said.

The purpose of the rankings is to ensure the rights of students, according to Mr. Trung. Those who are better will go to good schools or receive financial aid from the government . Some public universities in Texas and California have a policy of automatically admitting students in the top 10% of their high school, meaning that students in the top 40 of their grade will almost certainly be admitted directly to the school.

For American students, four years of high school grades are very important in college admissions. Illustration: American Sholar Group — For American students, four years of high school grades are very important in college admissions. Illustration: *American Scholar Group*

According to Mr. Van Tan Hoang Vy, Principal of Van Houston Academy, in Houston, Texas, student rankings in the US are highly competitive. For example, if there are 700 students in grade 12, the school will rank them from 1 to 700 and clearly state it on the transcript. The transcript at the end of grade 11 shows 125/700, meaning the student ranked 125 out of 700 will be used to apply to university at the beginning of grade 12.

Unlike Vietnam, where students are ranked by grade, American schools evaluate them by grade point average (GPA). For example, in a grade 12 class of 400 students, the student with the highest score will be considered valedictorian upon graduation, and the second highest score will be considered salutatorian. Students' scores are announced via email and are kept confidential.

Private schools in the US are also allowed to rank students, but they do not pursue this method and have their own policies due to the uneven quality of students. Usually, private schools evaluate by GPA. For example, Math has regular classes and advanced classes (AP classes). An A in an advanced class is considered 5.0, while an A in a regular class is 4.0.

"Students who choose AP classes and get A's will be ranked higher. Students who choose regular classes, even if they get 100 points, will still be ranked lower than students in advanced classes," Mr. Vy explained. Therefore, many parents see their children getting all A's but being ranked low because they chose regular classes.

For students with the best academic results in the school, Mr. Vy often confirms them on the transcript to make it easier for them to apply to university.

Colleges will look at data to determine whether a student is from a public or private school. For public schools, they look at rankings, while private schools will look more closely at GPA, individual grades, course difficulty (regular vs. AP), essays, and extracurricular activities.

"In the US, there is no common exam for university admission; schools only base their admissions on four years of high school. Therefore, the high school process is extremely important," said Mr. Vy.

Education experts admit that rankings put pressure on students to study hard to keep their grades high and always strive for a GPA of 3.0 or higher, but that is the way to get into prestigious universities.

However, this is also unfair in that the university only looks at the numbers and does not care about the quality of the applicant's high school. Having experience in guiding students in preparing their university applications, Mr. Vy realized that students who ranked first or second in their village schools have a high probability of getting into Ivy League schools. Meanwhile, many students achieved SAT scores of 1580/1600 but studied at schools with many good students, so their rankings were not high, reducing their advantage.

However, rankings are only necessary for high school students. For lower levels, scores or rankings are only for parents to know their children's abilities, according to Mr. Vy.

Master of Education Dinh Thu Hong, an elementary school teacher in the Gwinnett School District, Georgia, added that lower-level transcripts are only valuable if students want to enter specialized schools, selective classes, or famous private schools in the city.

Ms. Hong said that there must be scores to evaluate students. Every level of education has a final score and schools still classify and evaluate based on the scores. In elementary school, each semester has 2 quarters, each quarter must have at least 9-10 points for the two main subjects, Math, Literature, and 6-8 points for the secondary subjects such as Science , Social Studies...

At Ms. Hong's school, at the end of the year, there will be a summary of student rankings and awards. Usually, there will be types of awards such as AB Honor roll, A Honor roll and Principal Award.

In which, A Honor roll is for excellent students, meaning the total score of all subjects must be A (90-100). On average, a class has 6-8 students. AB Honor roll is similar to excellent students, the total score of each subject is A (90-100) and B (80-90). Each class has 8-10 students, out of a total of 20-26 students. Principal Award is given to the best students in the grade, in each subject or all subjects combined, and is only given to one student.

At the same time, teachers were also asked to come up with awards for all the remaining students. For example, for students who talk a lot, Ms. Hong will award a certificate of "Good communicator", or for students who are hyperactive and naughty, she will receive the title of "Most active student in class".

"Letting everyone stand up to receive a certificate of merit on the final day is not a matter of achievement, it has a much more important meaning: to let all students feel successful and special, and cared for," Ms. Hong, a third grade teacher, shared.

Dawn

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