The School ranking system: Effects and impacts on students

Does school ranking system really work? Does it really show the students' learning
capability? That is one of the endless questions towards the quality in education. Whereas the
quality in education is a subjective and complicated issue. Good schools support their students
with good academic and vocational programs, taking into mind that each child is unique and has
different needs, aspirations and cultures. They teach respect, self confidence, good citizenship,
creativity and being competent. Parents want schools that provide a positive and supportive
environment for their kids, where they can learn and grow as people, not as test-taking
machines. However due to the school ranking system, a positive and supportive environment is
becoming hard to find. School officials said they want the students to focus on their own
accomplishments without worrying so much where they fall in the pecking order. But since
grades and rankings are becoming a big deal to students, parents and schools, some students
are forced to push themselves to their limit. That it inevitably takes a negative toll on them,
physically and/or mentally. Basically, schools are using the ranking system in order to identify if
the students are learning or not; if the students’ capacity to learn is enough. Moreover, the main
function of ranking students by their grades is to inform the parents, guardians and others how
the student is performing in his or her own studies. This is to be done with at most attention and
care and without any prejudice or partiality. It is a very private thing; unfortunately, it is done in a
very public way. In line with that, ranking system greatly affects the students, not only on the
physical aspect but also in their mental health.

“The most important reason that class rank is on the decline is because it really isn’t a
direct measure of student achievement,” said David Hawkins, executive director of educational
content and policy at the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. Proving that
class or school rankings are not an accurate measurement of a student's knowledge. In fact,
ranking is not measuring at all. Greene said that, "to rank, we have to reduce complex
multidimensional measurement to something that can be measured with a single-edged stick."
An individual's knowledge cannot be measured by a simple numerical value may it be through
the exam results, grades or ranking. Though ranking may serve as a basis for a child's
academic growth and a good idea that fosters healthy competition in the end, not all students
are given a chance to be credited on the achievements that they deserve.

James Scanlon, superintendent of the West Chester Area School District near
Philadelphia, says that rankings can actually harm students when they apply to college. In
addition to, David Hawkins says that, “it’s tough to allow a student to find their own course when
they’re obsessed with only taking the courses that will put them closer to the top of the class.”
So in order to achieve the ranking that they want, students struggle and are forced to pursue a
career that they truly don't want. Pursuing a course that is not aligned with the wants or
aspirations of an individual will only lead to an unsatisfactory end. “It’s still important to have
high expectations and we still want to offer high-level classes,” Scanlon says, “but there’s a lot
of pressure on kids and we don’t need to add to that by creating this false number.” This shows
that students put a great amount of effort just to fit in the ranking that they want because they
see it as a requirement to be achieved. Researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on
Chicago School Research found that class rank affects Windy City students' grades and test
scores and even their persistence in college, and those students of similar academic ability in
8th grade can nonetheless hold very different class ranks depending on the school they choose
to attend..

There is one school of thought who feels that ranking system contributes in motivating
the students for learning more and fosters competition which is necessary in a flat world today.
But there is a research conducted by some of the eminent psychologists Condry & Koslowski in
1977 and Deci & Ryan in 1987 have revealed that ranking system affects the motivation,
diminishes the learning interest and reduces the mental ability to be creative and think of
solutions to problems. It produces more robots, mechanical work force rather than thinking
human beings. Why is competition and ‘ranking’ the main process for determining student
success? This will continue to be an issue when grades and test scores are the only ways
students are valued in education. Students are threatened if they do not meet academic
standards or perform above specified percentiles on standardized tests. It is unclear if this
system is effective in motivating students to work harder. However, this pressure may be
increasing children’s stress levels regarding their academic achievement. Analysis of multiple
studies of ranking system indicate that students who are in lower rank in class experience lower
self esteem and lower rates of school attendance, relative to promoted peers (Jimerson, 2001).
Both of these factors are further predictive of dropping out of school. Indirectly, low self-esteem
and poor school attendance influence adult outcomes. Students who ultimately drop out of
school without a diploma face considerable difficulty finding and maintaining employment for
self-sufficiency and experience higher rates of mental health problems, chemical abuse and
criminal activities than do high school graduates.
 Our present ranking system announces the quantified results in the public. It really
affects student’s psyche. Receiving a lower grade and everyone knowing about it, is really
matter of shame. No one would like to show the low grades they received to others. If they are
getting low grades continuously, they may feel that they are out of track and sometimes, they
may quit education. The low grades students receive in schools make them feel inferior to their
classmates and that make them depressed. A division is created between the students who
obtain higher grades and lower grades and an attitude of superiority and inferiority gets
developed in them. In the fear of getting lower grades, the students who obtain higher grade
won’t take risky or innovative tasks and choose simple tasks, much below their caliber. This
keeps them away from learning or experimenting new things. Actually, it makes them cowards.
The comparisons made by parents and teachers about the grades students got will affect them
badly. It can even make them detached from the society. If students find out that their rank is
lower compared to his or her rank on the past quarters, they would doubt and question
themselves. They would feel embarrassed and ashamed of themselves and this may result to a
mental disorder. In a bid to receive high grades, there are many ambitious students who choose
tasks that are much below their capacity. This in turn reduces their chances of learning more
and sharpening their skills

Students have different attitude when it comes to grades. There are students who find it
hard to accept their failures in schools but not all students are like those. There are still students
who easily accept their failures and make that as a motivation to strive harder on the next
quarters. They serve that an inspiration to achieve their goals or their desired rank in their
school. Some researchers said that ranking system brings only negative effects on mental
health but there are some researchers who found out that ranking systems has also
advantages. First, ranking system helps in self improvement to some extent. Students who are
in lower ranks tend to serve their rank as a sign to improve more of them. Another one is it
enables students to fix a target and to work hard to attain it. And lastly, gives students
competition spirit. These are the few positive effects of ranking system in mental capabilities of
students. However, the students with low grades feel that they are not on the right track and are
losers whereas those who receive high grades feel that they are going to be super successful.
Once such grade-oriented thinking starts seeping in the minds of the students, they feel
motivated only to get high grades and not to learn and explore more or to develop something
new from what they have learnt. That is the reason why, there are many ‘yes ministers’ around
instead of innovators and creators.
 All these academic rankings of each student – whether it is classroom or school wide
rankings – would of course be based from their academic grades and statistic measuring of their
performance inside the school. Grades, in general are indeed important; of course, they do
matter. But the thing is grades and rankings do not really define a student. School is stressful
enough to students, for grades, most especially rankings, to add up to their burdens. Nowadays,
grades are used as a form of stratification—a way to rank and reward people. For an instance,
how often do you see a school that does not proudly post or display the honor roll and the
cream of the crop among all of their students? What about the students who receive average
grades and don’t belong to those in the upper ranks? How are they ever celebrated and
honored? Seeing grades and school rankings as a form of stratification is something that
everyone, especially schools, should tolerate. In today’s world, many people would probably say
that grades and ranking among the student body measure how smart you are. The problem with
this assumption is that in most educational contexts grades only measure two types of
intelligence: linguistic and logical-mathematical. According Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligences there are at least five other types of intelligence: musical, bodily (kinesthetic),
spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. As we all know, most of these other forms of
intelligence will not get you a place on the honor roll. Basing one’s class ranking on just two
types of intelligence becomes especially problematic when we consider some of the other things
that people think ranking measure, such as self-worth and potential. In our culture, the power
and persuasion of class ranking, just as how grades are, is so strong that many students are
socialized to believe that their rank in school reflect who they are and what they will become.
How many times have you heard someone define a young person defined by their grades and
standing in their batch, class, or school: “Oh! She’s the one who’s consistently on top of their
batch. She’s an A student. We expect great things from her.” “He’s not that smart. He’s barely
getting into the honors list..” The extent to which grades and the larger schooling process are
used to label, sort, and track students has been an important topic of sociological analysis.
Classic studies such as Jeannie Oakes’s Keeping Track: How Schools Structure Inequality, Jay
MacLeod’s Ain’t No Makin’ It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood, and
Annette Lareau’s Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary
Education demonstrate how grades play a role in perpetuating inequality by pushing some
students forward and keeping other students back.
 Again, class ranking do matter, just as how grades do. There may be flaws in many
ranking or grading systems, sometimes in the education system itself, but letters and numbers
do still hold value. It may be a tough truth to swallow, but you’re only hurting yourself if you
pretend like grades don’t matter. Colleges look at grades, scholarship organizations look at
grades, and employers look at grades too. However, everyone should also remember that
students need not to hold a 4.0, 1.0, or 99, or even to be on top of the class and/or your school
to be successful. Class or school ranking can’t show every amazing quality a student has, and
colleges, scholarship organizations, and employers understand that. Instead, students should
think of rankingsand grades more as a measurement of how much they tried. If they’re failing
almost every class, there’s a strong chance they aren’t applying themselves and reaching their
real potential. To some, straight A’s come naturally, requiring no extra effort. To those students,
getting below a B might mean they really didn’t try. Even if it takes students hours of studying to
get B’s, then that’s okay too. As long as they truly tried to the best of their ability, they can look
at a C and be okay. If they know they can do better than a C, then they should try harder next
time, do something different when you study, using a different test-taking strategy, or even
asking for some extra credit. Everyone is capable of improving in school. It just takes time.
Every student should remember that they should never beat yourself up over a low grade—as
long as you actually tried. One’s ranking doesn’t define him or her. Those numbers on your
transcripts aren’t labels on one’s forehead. Each and every student are so much more. Good
grades and decent ranking are important, but not so important that students should pull all-
nighters until they collapse or downing one’s self due to a not-so-high position in the list of the
honor roll and/or class’ top students. Finding a healthy balance is possible.

So for the good of everyone in the study body, we strongly believe that class or school
ranking should be omitted. Instead of showcasing the students rank among the student body in
their respective schools, they should just be given recognition through merit cards which shows
or express that their exemplary performance in school or class is recognized and appreciated.
The student body should need not see everyone's ranking to avoid student stereotyping, mental
and psychological effect and misconceptions among students regarding their school ranking.

Good exam results, high grades, and top rankings; these are all pleasing to the ear but if
people are only focusing on the results, it would be destructive to the many efforts of the
improvement of the school systems. If we take into mind that the rank of a student is not always
an accurate measurement of one's knowledge then there won't be any reoccuring problems
concerning the quality in education, mental health of a student and the perception people have
with how rankings defines students. At the end of the day, all the values and lessons a student
learned at school will always be greater than the numerical value of a his knowledge. These
honor rolls, school and class rankings may serve as an inspiration to the rest who does not
belong to the selected group, but in a general sense, they actually make students think of their
classmates, schoolmates, and peers not as their friends or allies but as competitors and
potential obstacles to their own success. Thus, these rankings make their school experience
unnecessarily stressful while shifting their focus from learning to achievement and it also
destroys the sense of community which is a must in every institution.