Competition and education clash when class ranking is implemented in high schools. Does this conflict really bring out the best in students, though?

Supporters believe that a class ranking system allows students to observe how they compare to their peers and fosters a challenging environment for growth.

Opponents believe that class ranking places too much stress on students to maintain a high grade point average (GPA) and de-emphasizes learning the material.

I attended a public high school in Texas that recorded class rankings. From the moment we stepped through the doors, we were told how important class rankings were.

Thanks to Texas House Bill 588, all state-funded universities had to accept students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their class. So, I bought into the class ranking system at my school and managed to finish ranked within the top 12 of my class, out of over 400 students, based on weighted GPA.

Not too bad, right?

On the surface, it may sound like I benefited from the class ranking system and that the competitive academic environment pushed me to achieve more in high school. After all, I was able to get an automatic acceptance into all state-funded universities in the state of Texas.

However, when I decided to invest in the class ranking system, I began to pick classes purely on whether or not they would help me improve my class ranking, rather than how they might apply to my future outside of high school.

Had I not been so concerned with trying to raise my GPA as much as I could, I might have been more willing to explore more opportunities, such as getting involved in more extracurriculars or enrolling in some career development courses.

Many high schools across the nation are beginning to abandon this old tradition of class rankings in high school.

Author Alfie Kohn discusses this in his book “The Myth of the Spoiled Child.”

“The vicious rivalry and inevitable resentment on display as a handful of overachievers battle it out over tiny differences in GPA has led some schools to stop ranking, or at least to identify a batch of high-scoring kids as co-valedictorians — a tiny step in the right direction,” Kohn writes.

After reading this quote, I realized how close this hit home. I was one of those overachievers in high school and spent an excessive amount of time obsessing over a number that would be irrelevant moments after graduation.

Many colleges are also placing less emphasis on the importance of reporting class rankings in college applications. Only 9.2 percent of colleges reported that class ranking was of considerable importance for incoming freshmen applicants, according to the 2017 State of College Admission Report published by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Class ranking systems in high school are counterintuitive; they try to offer incentives for students by distinguishing and honoring those with higher grades. However, they end up being problematic for nearly all students.

They are punitive to the students at the top of their class because they are forced to enroll in upper level classes to stay competitive, which often means they have less freedom to explore their interests. They are equally punitive to the students at the bottom of their class because they are demeaning and often discourage students from trying in class, when they are out of the race of becoming valedictorian or in the top 10 percent.

It’s time to either shift away from the class ranking system in high schools, or emphasize to students that class rankings are only a small factor in the college admission process.