At first thought, Anissa Stafford found the Southmoreland School District’s idea to eliminate class rank "ridiculous."
The mother of two watched as her now 18-year-old daughter Lauren, a senior, rose to top of her class by taking Advanced Placement courses and keeping her grades up.
But after listening to conversations among board members and attending a community meeting about the proposal, Ms. Stafford found “more positives than negatives.”
Southmoreland, a Westmoreland County district of 1,800 students, last month voted to eliminate class rank — a mathematical summary of a student’s academic record compared to those of other students in the class. Instead, the district will implement a three-tiered system that breaks students into three groups based on quality point average. QPA is a system used to weigh student grades against classes the student takes.
“So many of these kids are pushing themselves with these AP classes and cramming in as many as they can to get that class rank up,” Ms. Stafford said. Under the district’s new system, she said, “There’ll be more students who will be recognized than just the top two. It’s not going to be like a trophy-for-everybody kind of thing. It’s still going to be an elite group.”
The move is one that school districts across the country have been making for years as colleges and universities lessened the weight put on the ranking number and as districts worked to help students better manage their mental health.
“We want to be driven and have competition and push them to be their best, but not have that to be their only drive, of what place they finish in in class rank,” said Nick Bosnic, the high school principal in Connellsville, which will shift its focus on class rank starting next school year.
Locally, several districts have created new systems for honoring students including Connellsville in Fayette County. Seneca Valley in Butler County put less of a priority on the ranking starting in the 2017-18 school year, when officials stopped making the ranking public to students. And in Allegheny County, Hampton Township and North Allegheny no longer consider the ranking while Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair have not used it for the past 20 years.
Nationally, many districts have also shifted away from the measurement over the past two decades. That includes the West Chester Area School District in Chester County, which in 2016 eliminated class rank.
One reason for the shift, said Tracey Sheetz, Washington & Jefferson College’s vice president of enrollment, marketing and communications, is because the measure is not standardized. School districts and high schools have differences in curricula and grading standards, leading to colleges and universities focusing instead on GPA and SAT scores during the admissions process, the College Board found.
At Washington & Jefferson, which has not considered class rank for at least 20 years, officials “take a holistic approach” in the admissions process, Ms. Sheetz said.
“I would much rather see a student that is very involved in clubs and activities and interests and service-oriented projects,” Ms. Sheetz said. “Showing that this is an adaptable, openminded student, that means so much more to me than any class rank.”
The school isn’t alone.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock University do not use class rank in admissions, a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education spokesperson confirmed. At IUP, officials found that cumulative high school GPA is the best predictor of student success while Slippery Rock looks at GPA and coursework rigor, a shift that came as fewer high schools ranked their students.
Local reaction
According to Southmoreland Superintendent Jason Boone, the idea of eliminating class rank came from high school staff as district officials were discussing possible changes to graduation requirements. He said the idea had been brought up over the years but officials never “made any headway on” it until this past year.
After the idea was raised, Mr. Boone reached out to colleges and universities regionally and nationally. The majority said they no longer consider class rank in admissions. And he pointed to the mental health piece associated with class rank. Often students will pack their schedules with AP classes, which help to raise their ranking but can cause anxiety and stress for students trying to balance intense course loads.
The proposal was then presented to the community and brought to the board for a vote Jan. 21. Directors passed the changes in a 7-2 vote.
As things currently stand, class rank will be phased out with the class of 2028. those students now are in ninth grade. A three-tiered system will be phased in over the coming years, breaking students into categories: scholars, or those with a QPA at or greater than 3.65; scholars with honors, those with a QPA at or exceeding 3.85; and scholars with distinction, or those with a QPA at or above 4.1. Students will also complete a service project and during graduation ceremonies, class presidents will give speeches rather than valedictorians.
School director Catherine Fike pushed back against the idea at the January meeting.
“I am violently opposed to this,” Ms. Fike said. “I live in an America, where for years we have seen our society collapse because of DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] instead of merit. I think that a person who works so hard deserves that credit, that recognition and the support of the community as an outstanding individual. … I think this is a real terrible thing to do to our kids.”
Director Stephanie Geyer countered Ms. Fike, saying, “When you’re chasing that class rank high, you’re taking all of the AP classes and you are stressed out beyond belief because you’re in five really hard classes. Are they necessarily classes that have anything to do with what you want to be when you grow up? Probably not.”
At Seneca Valley, officials eliminated class rank in the 2017-18 school year. At the time, said Matthew McKinley, assistant superintendent of secondary instruction, teachers and staff were seeing “a big increase in student mental health issues.” Eliminating class rank, he said, was a way “to relieve some of the stress on students.”
Today the district of 7,500 students still calculates class rank “in the background.”
The district is then able to provide students with their ranking if it’s needed for scholarship or college applications. And because class rank is still calculated, the district does name valedictorians and salutatorians for graduation ceremonies.
“I feel strongly that school processes shouldn't stand in the way of students’ progress, stand in the way of their mental health, stand in the way of their growing and learning,” Mr. McKinley said. “And anytime we can make an effort to reduce that kind of stress and change our processes for the betterment of students, we should try and take advantage of that.”
At Connellsville, a district of 3,800 students, school directors voted in 2023 to move away from class rank starting in the 2025-26 school year. The decision came after officials — who talked to the district community and staff as well as to colleges and universities — saw students taking as many AP classes as possible rather than courses related to careers.
In anticipation of the changes, the district last school year implemented a system similar to one used at colleges and universities. Rather than having a ranking, students are identified as cum laude, manga cum laude and summa cum laude. They are honored during graduation.
“It was a chance to honor more,” Superintendent Richard Evans said. “To have more stand out, more recognition for more of our students.”
Back at Southmoreland, student Lauren Stafford remained apprehensive about the changes.
“I feel like I've worked extremely hard to get there,” she said, noting that she’s currently third in her class. “I feel like it's not fair for me not to be recognized.”
But for her mom, not having the pressure of class rank would have allowed Lauren to take more art classes, something she enjoys, rather than filling her schedule with AP courses.
“High school should still be fun for these kids,” Ms. Stafford said. “It shouldn't be pushing themselves to make them burn out.”
First Published: February 9, 2025, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 10, 2025, 8:47 p.m.
