westwood high school proposal for changes in rank in class...

Westwood High School Proposal for Changes in

Rank in Class

April 2017

Meeting Etiquette

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•  Presentation ~60 minutes, Q&A/discussion ~45 minutes •  This is an emotional topic for many. Please be respectful

of differing opinions. •  Please:

–  hold questions until each section break. –  do not monopolize Q&A. –  wait to be called upon to speak. –  do not repeat questions or comments; be additive. –  keep comments productive and constructive. –  no ad hominem.

History & Background

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Who is i am not a number?

•  A group of concerned parents from Westwood High School and its two feeder middle schools, Grisham and Canyon Vista.

•  An unaffiliated (i.e., not part of the PTSA, RRISD, etc.) education policy advocacy group focused on changing the rank in class policy at WHS. –  Following the question of Rank in Class (“RIC”), this group may

address other issues stemming from these discussions

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Who is WHS?

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Subject 2016

Enrollment ~2,750

Number of Graduates 628

Percentage of Graduates attending college 97%

IB Diploma Graduates 68

% of IB Exam scores >4 97%

Number of AP Exams administered 3,257

% of AP Exam scores >3 91%

Number of National Merit Semifinalists 54

Number of National Merit Finalists 52

Number of National Merit Commended 85

2016 ACT Composite 27.5 (+6.7)

2016 SAT Composite 1,732 (+248)

For an open-enrollment public HS, WHS is unusual in the high rate of college-bound students. TX HS average +/- 53%*.

Given the large number of college-bound students, the focus is clearly on college readiness, as seen in the large number of AP/IB exams and high average SAT/ACT scores.

Source:TexasHigherEduca3onData,WestwoodHighSchoolProfile.

How many WHS students take the AP* exam?

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

~ Enrollment 2,700 2,700 2,750

% Students Tested

39% 41% 44%

Students Tested

878 938 981 1,056 1,119 1,214

Number Exams

2,161 2,341 2,498 2,681 3,126 3,257

Avg # Exams / Student

2.46 2.50 2.55 2.54 2.79 2.68

6 Source:2014,2015,and2016WestwoodHighSchoolProfile.2017datafromWHS.ExcludesstudentstakingotheradvancedcoursesthroughtheIBDiplomaProgramme.

•  In 2017, 2011 students (~76% of student body) are enrolled in at least one pre-AP or AP course.*

•  The average student enrolled in pre-AP / AP courses is taking 3.22 courses at this level.*

Why change RIC?

•  To help students gain admission to their college of choice

•  To mitigate one of the many sources of academic stress & anxiety

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“If we say our purpose is to develop talent, then computing class rank is unmistakably counter to that purpose.”*

* Thomas R. Guskey, PhD., Volume 95, Number 6, kappanmagazine.org.

What’s the history of RIC and RRISD?

•  In response to judicial rulings, Texas passed HB 588 in 1997 -- the “10% Rule” -- granting automatic admission to state schools* –  Due to class size constraints, UT-Austin currently uses a 7%

Rule •  In 2010, RRISD convened a committee to evaluate the

District’s RIC Policy –  The District chose to maintain the current system; consistency

across the District was a critical component of their evaluation –  The Committee recommended revisiting the topic in 3 to 4 years

•  In 2016, a new Committee was formed and determined that RIC was not a priority, thus halting the re-evaluation –  For this to move forward, we need to (i) decide if this is a priority

for us, and (ii) if so, elevate the issue to the District 8

* There are additional requirements for automatic college admission, but top 10% RIC is the primary requirement.

What is RIC?

•  RIC is the numeric ranking of students based on her RIC Grade Point Average (“GPA”). –  For example, Tammy is ranked 204th out of 628* students in her

sophomore class (~32nd percentile).

•  RIC is used by various external groups as a threshold for qualification, such as automatic college admission or merit-based scholarships.

•  RIC is often used amongst students in determining social circles; it can be a barrier to social connection.

9 * This is only an example of a RIC; it is intended to illustrate the numeric ranking of students.

How is RIC GPA computed?

•  The school computes two GPA’s: one is the “unweighted GPA” and the other is the RIC GPA.

•  The RIC GPA is a 5.0 scale, with an additional 1.0 point for advanced (Pre-AP/IB, AP/IB, etc.) courses primarily in the 5 core subject areas.

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Subject Units Grade GradePoints

English2 0.5 93 4.3

German2 0.5 89 3.9

Pre-APPre-Calculus 0.5 94 5.4

Pre-APChemistry 0.5 96 5.6

WorldHistory 0.5 87 3.7

APCompSciA 0.5 92 5.2

TOTAL 3.0 28.1/2

RICGPA 4.70*

+1.0

+1.0

* This is only an example of how the RIC GPA is computed; it is not intended to indicate the GPA required to achieve the specific rank for the example student.

+1.0

What are some of the adverse unintended consequences of RIC?

•  Subverts the educational mission of developing students –  Diminishes collaboration between students –  Increases academic competition and dishonesty

•  Places greater importance on grades and scores versus exploration and experimentation –  Diminishes enjoyment of learning –  Diminishes community spirit –  Increases “GPA gaming” / diminished intellectual risk-taking

•  Incentivizes unhealthy habits and antisocial behaviors –  Deprioritizes sleep and exercise –  Increases stress, anxiety and depression –  Diminishes self-worth and confidence

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What are some of the positive effects of RIC?

•  Reflects what life is like in college or the workplace •  Motivates some students to study more •  Honors academic achievement

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The Proposal

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What is the Proposal? CurrentSystem* ProposedChange

WhatwillIknowaboutmyRIC? Specificnumericclassrank(e.g.,76/619)

YourRICGPAandtheRICThresholdsforspecificcutoffs(e.g.,Top7%RICGPA=x.xxx,Top10%RICGPA=y.yyy,quarMlesthereaNer);ClassRanknotreportedonreportcardorofficialtranscript;phase-inoropt-infortransiMon;CerMficateofRankforscholarshipsthatrequirerank.

WhendoIknowmyRICGPA&posi3on?

RICGPA:aêrfirstsemesteroffreshmanyearClassRank:aêrsecondsemesteroffreshmanyearOfficialClassRank:aêr5thMarkingPeriodofsenioryear

RICGPA:NochangeQuarMleThresholdsandOpt-In:aNersecondsemesterofsophomoreyearOfficialClassRank:Nochange

14 Source:DistrictCourseCatalogsfor2017-2018AcademicYearandWHSstaff.

This proposal is subject to change without notice, based on the feedback received from the Community.

What else will change? CurrentSystem* ProposedChange

Whatareotheracademicrecogni3ons?

None(forclassesa^er2017) LaMnHonors(summacumlaude,magnacumlaude,cumlaude)basedonstandardizedGPA(i.e.,notclassrank).Forexample:CumLaude>4.5MagnaCumLaude>5.0SummaCumLaude>5.5

Howtomi3gatecourseoverload? None Requireparent-studentcounseling,withprincipalapproval;providedetailcoursedescripMonsforbeaerdecision-making



What is not changing? CurrentSystem* ProposedChange

HowwillRICGPAbecomputed? 5.0system,with1.0addedforadvancedcourses

Nochange

Howwillthevaledictorian,salutatorianandtop10studentsbeselected?

ByorderofRICGPA Nochange



College Admissions

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“Momentum is growing nationwide for no rank transcripts — about half of the high schools in the country no longer post rankings, according to the National Association of Secondary School Principals.”* March 11, 2010

18 Source:hdp://www.mystatesman.com/news/more-texas-high-schools-ditching-class-ranks/xodtDGmdyscDhm1Q6fwuOM/.hdps://www.nassp.org/who-we-are/board-of-directors/posi3on-statements/class-rank-gpa-and-grading?SSO=true

What do comparable HS do?

“Westlake High School’s Class of 2012, the first year when 90 percent of graduates had no rankings on their transcripts, 38 percent more students were accepted by the University of Texas at Austin than the class before them, district data shows. Texas A&M University admitted 49 percent more students from the class without rankings.”

19 Source:hdp://www.mystatesman.com/news/more-texas-high-schools-ditching-class-ranks/xodtDGmdyscDhm1Q6fwuOM/


“[Not ranking] forces the college to look at the rigor of the courses, the grades and standardized test scores. Our admissions to UT and Texas A&M both went up as a result…. I also think it relieves stress on the kids. You begin to compete with yourself about getting a higher GPA than feeling like you are competing with the other students in your class. I don’t think we would ever go back to ranking.”

Carol Niemann, Guidance Counselor at Westlake HS

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Have other HS in Texas changed their RIC Policy?

District/HS YearChanged

HighlandParkISD/HighlandParkHS 2009-2010

EanesISD/WestlakeHS 2010-2011

Aus3nISD/LASA 2012-2013

AnnRichardsSchoolforYWL 2012-2013

LakeTravisISD/LakeTravisHS 2013-2014

Aus3nISD/AndersonHS 2014-2015

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What do comparable area HS do?

School Rank in Class Grades Westlake High School (Eanes ISD)

Compute top 10%, do not numerically rank except valedictorian & salutatorian

Unweighted GPA = 1.0x Pre-AP / Honors GPA = 1.1x AP & Advanced Honors GPA = 1.2x

Lake Travis High School (Lake Travis ISD)

Compute top 10%, do not numerically rank except valedictorian; must have at least 4 un-weighted credits in GPA, at least 3 of which must be prior to senior year

Unweighted GPA = 1.0x Pre-AP / Honors GPA = 1.1x AP & Advanced Honors GPA = 1.2x

Liberal Arts & Science Academy (Austin ISD)

Compute top 10%, student may request that rank be reported

Unweighted GPA = 1.0x Pre-AP / AP/ Honors GPA = +1.0

Anderson High School (Austin ISD, IB World School)

Compute top 10%, rank is not reported

Unweighted GPA = 1.0x Pre-AP / AP / Honors GPA = +1.0

22 Source:DistrictCourseCatalogsforthe2016-2017or2017-2018AcademicYear.


“We started by informing the community about various universities, Northwestern comes to mind, that start their selection process by looking at the rank of a student first...only considering if someone is in the top 20%.… Someone could have a 3.68[/4.0] GPA but not be in the top 20%. By eliminating rank all we did is make it so the universities had to look at who [our] students actually are rather than their rank. After we eliminated rank the other 4 high schools in our district followed in the next two years. We have never looked back!

Zack Larsen, Principal of Mission San Jose HS

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“… a University of Pennsylvania admissions officer told school officials that a highly qualified graduate had been rejected because she was ranked 15th out of 320 students [Top 5%]. “They said ‘if you didn’t rank her, she would have gotten in,’” Superintendent James Scanlon said of the student....”*

24 Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20161030_More_top_high_schools_drop_out_of_class-rank_system.html

What is “Considerably Important” in College Admissions?

25 Source: National Association of College Admissions Counselors’ (“NACAC”) Research to Practice Brief, Issue 3, “Class Rank”, 2007; NACAC’s State of College Admission 2015. * Prior to 2006, Grades in College Prep & Strength of Curriculum were combined.

Classrankhasdiminishedinimportancesinceweappliedtocollege;intheearly1990s,classrankwascomparabletoadmissionstests,butisnowonly1/4asimportant.

How well do WHS students fare at Universities of choice?

2015EnrolledUT–AusMn

2016AdmiaedTexasState

2016AdmiaedUNT

Top7% 25(57%of~44*)

Next18% 46(41%of~113*)

SecondQuar3le 15(9%of~157*)

BodomHalf <5(<2%of~314*)

TOTAL 86(14%of~628*) 69(11%of628*) 36(6%of628*)

26 Source:UT-Aus3nOfficeofAdmissions.DatafromTexasA&MUniversityhasbeenrequested,buthasnotyetbeenreceived.Quar3lesizesarebasedonsizeofclassof2016(628graduates).

How does RIC impact academic choice, competition and college?

27 Source:WHSandVRHS2016SchoolProfile.

Thetopquar3le’sGPAis~5.0+;mathema3cally,theonlywaytoachieveautoma3cadmissions/highrankistoloaduponadvancedcoursesanddoextremelywellinthem.

VRHS

VRHS

How does RIC impact academic choice, competition and college?

28 Source:RRISD2012Data.

“I own my GPA, I don’t own my class rank.”

Student at Highland Park HS

What do Admissions Officers say?

Doing away with rank may help students from Westwood at UT-Austin…. For students with no rank, UT will create a rank for them based on a school profile, previous applicants and the classes taken.

Nicholas Howell, formerly of University of Texas at Austin

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“TAMU provides automatic admission to the students in the top 10% of all high schools. For schools who do not rank, each student who applies receives a computer calculated ranking from the TAMU Admissions Processing Office that compares all of the students in the school…[and] will assign a class rank based on the reported GPA.”

David, Texas A&M University

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“We recognize that quartiles and top 15% are very different at a school like Westwood than with schools with less competitive students as a whole…of course, Westwood falls into the highest rigor category.”

Melanee Hamilton, University of Oklahoma

“...at SMU, we do not look at a student’s rank or what percent[ile] of their class they are in. All of our merit scholarships are based off of their SAT or ACT score along with their GPA.”

Alex Muñoz, Southern Methodist University

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Stress & Anxiety

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“…there is evidence that not using class rank can reduce stress for students and lessen the risks of taking rigorous and challenging courses in high school.”*

Dr. Karen Walker, Lebanon Valley College

“We [Challenge Success] have found that eliminating valedictorian status and class rankings has reduced stress at certain schools — especially those where achievement in the form of grades and test scores and college admission rates is valued above all other traits.”*

Denise Pope, PhD., Senior Lecturer at Stanford University & Co-founder of Challenge Success

33 Source:hdp://educa3onpartnerships.org

What have we learned from 2016’s Campus Climate Survey?

34 Source: 2016 Campus Climate Surveys for all RISD HS. WHS 2016 sample sizes for students, parents and staff are 603, 536 and 73, respectively. 4 HS average is weighted average of the 4 other RRISD HS (RRHS, CRHS, SPHS, & MHS). 2017 average years of experience for WHS teachers is 12.3 years, compared to 10.9 years for RRISD and 11.0 years for State.

+11%

+27% +40%

+11%

+12%

+21%

Academic Stress is the most significant problem at WHS for all members of the Community. Importantly, students and staff, those who live with Academic Stress on a daily basis, identify it as a major problem at a higher rate than parents.

Academic Dishonesty is the second most significant problem at WHS. Again, students and staff identify it as a major problem at a higher rate than parents. Overall, staff sees these issues as troublesome relative to their District peers.

Are 2016’s findings consistent with the past?

35 Source: 2013-2016 Westwood High School Campus Climate Surveys.

Academic Stress reported by students and teachers has increased by ~9% (~7 points) in the last 3 years.

Similarly, Academic Dishonesty as reported by students and teachers has also increased significantly in that timeframe.

What are the sources of Stress & Anxiety?

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Parental Expectations

College Admissions

Time

Source: “W” Campus Leaders Meeting on April 17, 2017.

Rank Mobility

Top7%/Top10%

FreshmanYearRank

SeniorYearRank

ToMaintainFreshmanYear

Rank

NumericRank 44 44 36/+8

ClassSize 750 625/-125 625/-125

Percen3le 5.87% 7.04%/-1.17% 5.87%

NumericRank 63 63 52/+11

Percen3le 8.40% 10.08%/-1.68% 8.40%

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Addressing Stress & Anxiety

•  In consultation with students, parents and faculty, Mr. Acosta is developing plans to address the issue of academic stress and anxiety at WHS. –  Phase 1 of this plan will be rolled out during the next academic

year. Communication of this plan will begin in May and continue throughout the academic year.

–  Components of the Plan are intended for elementary and middle school parents.

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Other Issues

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Our Next Steps

•  Continue to meet with parents to dialogue and determine if this is important for us to advocate for; develop policy recommendation (April-May 2017)

•  Discuss our proposal with WHS and District administration (Completed)

•  Attend a future RRISD Board of Trustees meeting to present findings and request the change in policy (TBD)

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Action Items

•  Sign the Petition –  ipetitions.com/petition/iamnotanumber

We, the members of the Westwood High School community (including its feeder schools), believe a critical first step to creating a less stressful, more enjoyable and more collaborative learning environment at Westwood High School is to change the rank in class policy. We acknowledge the legal need for rank in class, but the current system of giving numeric placement facilitates an environment where academic dishonesty and intellectual competition are rewarded, with diminished student and community well-being as unfortunate byproducts. We respectfully request that the administration and the District accept the recommendations made by I Am Not A Number so we can further foster transformational education at Westwood High School.

•  Stay Connected –  Join the mailing list: https://goo.gl/forms/XBtuUQkMo3qkPiXq1 –  Social media: facebook.com/groups/iamnotanumber/ –  Email: [email protected]

•  Host Events –  We need to reach as many interested parents as possible; discuss

the issue with other parents and encourage them to get engaged. E-mail if you would like a speaker to attend your meeting.

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westwood high school proposal for changes in rank in class...

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