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Fairness of pupil ranks scrutinized.
Roanoke Times ^ | October 10, 2008 | Courtney Cutright

Posted on 10/10/2008 11:26:13 AM PDT by sevinufnine

BEDFORD -- A plethora of advanced course offerings has Bedford County School Board members scratching their heads, trying to decide a fair way to rank students or whether to discontinue the practice completely.

Parents reportedly have expressed concerns of inequity because of weighted course offerings through the Advanced Placement, Virginia Governor's School and Early College programs.....

(Excerpt) Read more at roanoke.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: education; fairness; school; schoolboard; studentranking

1 posted on 10/10/2008 11:26:13 AM PDT by sevinufnine
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To: sevinufnine

More “fairness” coming down the pipes for our students. Yup...let’s not allow those who strive to be the best they can be have any recognition. I mean, we may offend those who are too stoned in class to realize they had an assignment.


2 posted on 10/10/2008 11:27:27 AM PDT by sevinufnine (Sevin - "If we do not fight when we know we can win, we'll have to fight when we know we will lose")
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To: sevinufnine

More “fairness” coming down the pipes for our students. Yup...let’s not allow those who strive to be the best they can be have any recognition. I mean, we may offend those who are too stoned in class to realize they had an assignment.


3 posted on 10/10/2008 11:27:33 AM PDT by sevinufnine (Sevin - "If we do not fight when we know we can win, we'll have to fight when we know we will lose")
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To: sevinufnine

...in anyway possible,take away the individual,take away accomplishments,take away values,make all equal....

now follow the great one....be like everyone else...follow,follow


4 posted on 10/10/2008 11:32:22 AM PDT by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: sevinufnine

My daughter took four AP courses her senior year. All year. Then, we found that the HOPE scholarship, which can afford to pay 6 figure bonuses to execs, weighs those courses at .5 since “you have a chance to exempt college courses.” That is literally what we were told; no response when I mentioned that she still had to have the same amount of credits to graduate. So her solid B in almost all AP courses became a C and no money.

If she had taken regular classes no problem.


5 posted on 10/10/2008 11:46:59 AM PDT by doodad
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To: doodad; All
Take the results of the AP exams to a college counselor. They will be translated to college credits. My son scored "5" on all his AP classes and was designated a "college sophomore" before he walked through his high school graduation ceremony.

If your kids are headed off to boot camp, get the AP class conversion to college credits performed before heading off to boot camp and get a transcript forwarded to the recruiter. For USMC, that means an immediate bump to PFC. Ditto if your son is an Eagle Scout.

Your daughter will still benefit by saving the time/money to take the courses necessary to earn those college credits. The high school admins tend to be bone heads when it comes to AP. My son literally took charge of teaching his AP courses AND conducted evening tutorials for his fellow students. The "teachers" were seat warmers on the taxpayers nickel.

6 posted on 10/10/2008 11:55:44 AM PDT by Myrddin
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To: sevinufnine

Appears to me from the article that although they might eliminate valedictorian they will still have an honor designation for the very top students. What’s the problem?


7 posted on 10/10/2008 11:59:30 AM PDT by gracesdad
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To: doodad

Is the HOPE scholarship a government program or private charity?


8 posted on 10/10/2008 12:31:33 PM PDT by tbw2 (Freeper sci-fi - "Sirat: Through the Fires of Hell" - on amazon.com)
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To: gracesdad

Many scholarships state free tuition for valedictorians. Get rid of the slot, get rid of the free ride for that kid.


9 posted on 10/10/2008 12:42:29 PM PDT by tbw2 (Freeper sci-fi - "Sirat: Through the Fires of Hell" - on amazon.com)
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To: tbw2

My son has been taking only AP courses (when possible) for most of his HS career. They do add a bonus to his GPA because of the difficultly level (I think +5 per grade) so that has him class ranked at 33 out of 640+ kids. He is also taking all of the AP courses with 5s on most of them so that depending on the college he goes to he will get college credit (which saves me money).

Those who want to drop this kind of recognition are just being stupid. The students who take these classes are pushing themselves to excel and they do look at it as a competitive “game”. Taking away the incentive to take harder classes just helps to reduce the desire to push oneself...


10 posted on 10/10/2008 12:45:29 PM PDT by djl_sa (A happy republican now that Sarah is in the race!)
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To: sevinufnine

So in 4 years my granddaughter, whose goal is to be valedictorian of her class won’t be able to be realized because that would be unfair.


11 posted on 10/10/2008 12:53:40 PM PDT by tiki (True Christians will not deliberately slander or misrepresent others or their beliefs)
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To: Myrddin

It was the fine people at HOPE that told me no dice. My daughter did clep two classes, but the private school she is attending is a little less lenient than state schools.


12 posted on 10/10/2008 1:01:27 PM PDT by doodad
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To: tbw2

State program funded through the lottery and a scam.


13 posted on 10/10/2008 1:02:01 PM PDT by doodad
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To: sevinufnine
The only fair thing to do is have each student be co-valedictorians, and each give a speech....
14 posted on 10/10/2008 1:37:52 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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To: tbw2

“Many scholarships state free tuition for valedictorians. Get rid of the slot, get rid of the free ride for that kid.

Never heard of that.

Nonetheless, the school system can still tell a scholarship provider if a student had the highest average in his or her class. And believe me, the students still know who’s at top.


15 posted on 10/10/2008 3:02:35 PM PDT by gracesdad
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