Norris School District

Discussion on Graduation Honors Shift

            We are discussing a plan to alter our commencement designation process:

            Elements of the plan include:

(1)   Beginning with the graduating class of 2010, the designation of valedictorian and salutatorian will be replaced by the following honors system:

(2)   Recognition of graduating seniors according to grade point averages:

(3)   Seniors who qualify for the above graduation honors will be recognized at commencement by:

a.       Summa cum laude:           3.90-4.0 cumulative GPA

b.      Magna cum laude:            3.75-3.899 cumulate GPA

c.       Cum laude:                       3.50-3.749 cumulative GPA

(4)   Students who qualify for summa cum laude (highest designation) may apply to be a student speaker at commencement: three will be selected.

(5)   Students will continue to have a class rank.  All students who possess a 4.0 grade point average will be tied for first in class.

            Key questions in the discussion will include: Why consider changing the current process?  Who stands to benefit from the changes and who has something to lose if these changes are made?  And, how would applications for commencement speakers be considered? 

            The current proposal is just in the discussion phase.  We will consider what graduation honors plans have been adopted and enacted in other districts and how successful these have been.  We will consult with partners at the post-secondary advising level as well, to garner their insights on this matter.  Norris’ academic accomplishments are outstanding.  Collectively, we have high levels of student achievement, and individually, somewhere between a third to forty percent of our students perform at a very high level academically, meaning they may qualify for one of the above designations. It is not uncommon for 10% of a graduating class or slightly more to graduate with cumulative GPAs in the 3.9 to 4.0 range. What separates number 1 from number 10 when this is the case?  Candidly, not much.  But only one receives the nominal designation of valedictorian.  In fact, in the last two years alone, the differentiation between the top two students in a class – and among the top five in a class, moreover, is the very narrowest of margins: essentially it comes down to who earned more “A+” grades and where the other students ‘slipped up’ and had an ‘off semester.’  By ‘off semester’ – I mean earning an “A” in a class instead of that cherished “A+”.  Literally, that’s how the differences usually sort out in ranks 1-10.  The above proposal needs to be considered in order to help us reorient our academic efforts to where we believe the focus might be more properly placed.  An overemphasis on class rank – especially on attaining the coveted “I’m Number 1” ranking is not healthy.  Students who have completed a course of four years of rigorous study at Norris High School and retained the kind of excellent cumulative marks noted above deserve to be congratulated – and formally recognized.  The battle for class rank should never deter students from our primary purpose – learning.  We do not want a student to be fearful of taking a course that may be particularly challenging for him or her because he dreads the thought of pulling an “A”, or, heaven forbid, a B!  It seems absurd, but this sort of thinking happens among our bright, competitive students, and is more prevalent than it ought to be.  

            We also need to consider issues of equity in grading as discussions about academic rigor or the relative ‘weight’ academically of some classes becomes a factor in the discussion.  As some districts have struggled to retain a traditional class rank and hold on to their valedictorian – salutatorian designations, insanely complicated formulas for weighted grading have been designed that reward students higher ‘bumps’ in their GPAs for grades in certain classes as opposed to others.  The argument often comes up to shift to weighted grades when schools have difficulty distinguishing one excellent student from another over their course of studies.  In a weighted grading system, students would receive more GPA ‘power’ on their grades in an English class than they would in World Language or music, for example.  In my opinion, it’s no real solution for retaining the valedictorian –salutatorian distinction.  Engineering a weighted grading system in an attempt to keep making distinctions among (for all practical purposes) equally excellent students creates an inordinate amount of mathematical puzzling for counselors but seems to achieve little else in persuading anyone that those distinctions are fair ones.

            Regarding the selection of commencement speakers if such a proposal as the above were enacted, we would put in place an application process that would include submission of scripts to a faculty council of reviewers and individuals would audition and be scored by a panel of teacher (internal and external) judges.

            Let’s consider the above proposal, explore questions, and discuss it further in the coming weeks.

            The above is hardly an exhaustive list of what’s happening at the high school.  But it’s probably enough to whet your appetite for the coming year.  We are certainly hungry to get started – this food metaphor has got me wondering what Tini’s already up to in the kitchen.  We expect another great year in the high school, and our expectations will become our reality!  We are honored to work with your kids and we will do our best every period of every day to deliver outstanding instruction to guarantee student learning.