The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HOW DUAL ENROLLMENT SCRAMBLES CLASS RANKS
The class-rank quagmire has led many private schools to abandon rankings, which means no valedictorian and salutatorian are named.
Perhaps public schools should follow suit.
The status of being No. 1 in a high school graduating class can bring scholarships, including the Zell Miller and automatic admission to the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. But is the rank worth the rancor?
Lakeside High School is the latest flashpoint in the confusing process by which top slots are decided. Selection of the highest-achievers has become even trickier since more high school students enroll in classes at local colleges as Georgia pushes dual enrollment through its Move on When Ready program. Similar valedictorian skirmishes have erupted around the state, including Cherokee County and Gainesville.
Calculating the No. 1 and 2 graduates was a cinch when all students took the same college-prep courses in sequence. Now, however, students collect high school credits in middle school, online and through dual enrollment. Schools may provide a GPA boost for classes deemed more rigorous
and challenging, such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate.
So, it can necessitate an audit, spreadsheets and policy judgments to award the valedictorian stole. And those judgments can generate outrage. For example, Etowah High School’s valedictorian in 2011 never attended the school. She enrolled at Etowah in name only to access an early-college option offered to public school students at the University of West Georgia. Because college grades earn higher points on a GPA in Cherokee County, the dual-enrolled student edged out a straight-A Etowah student, leading to protests by classmates. The resolution was a policy change to permit two valedictorians.
Gainesville City Schools consulted an outside expert — a college professor — to help it sort out
which student merited the top slot. Gainesville High had two students vying for the No. 1 slot. One student had 36 credit units and all A’s. The other had 31.5 credits and a single B.
The second student ended up with the higher GPA by less than one-hundredth of a point. Why? Because the first student had high school credits from middle school, and those grades were not weighted. The other student had taken more weighted classes while in high school.
When Lakeside High School announced its valedictorian this year, other seniors did not recognize the name. The teen was a dual-enrolled student who did not attend last week’s graduation ceremony. So, the salutatorian addressed the class instead, along with three student leaders.
We are likely to see more of this since legislators amended state law to enable dual-enrolled students to vie for the top slot even if they have not taken classes at the high
school for years.
In talking to outstanding students, they agree dual-enrollment college courses, for which they earn higher points toward their GPAs, are not as tough as AP classes at their home high schools. They complain students at the pinnacle of their class for their entire high school careers are now being passed over for valedictorian or salutatorian by someone with more dual-enrollment classes. And they also contend students often opt for dual enrollment because entry-level college courses are easier than AP classes.
Brian Eufinger, owner of the Atlanta test-prep company Edison Prep, said, “I hear this paraphrased on a weekly basis from kids: ‘Why would I get my butt kicked in APUSH at my high school when I could whoop up not even trying in a dual-enrollment history class?’ “
The Legislature shrugged off testimony of teachers last year that AP and IB high school courses demand more of
students than intro college classes. The sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Robert Dickey, R-Musella, told the AJC last week, “High schools receive all of the state funding for them, and they are part of that school, even though they may take a lot of their courses in dual enrollment. I understand the concerns, but I just don’t think at the end of the day we need to be excluding these young people ... just for trying to get ahead.”
“Dual enrollment is an absolute godsend and amazing resource for students who are zoned for schools that are not able to offer very many APs, but at some of the most competitive public schools, some students utilize it as an alternative to more difficult classes on their home campus,” said Eufinger. “From a societal standpoint dual enrollment is great because it helps the former group, but the admissions officers at various universities are aware of the behavior of the latter group.”