Do class rankings do more harm than good?

MANSFIELD — Do class rankings do more harm than good? Mansfield High is the latest local school to consider eliminating them.

And, more and more school districts are moving away from this student ranking system.

“I think that it can add pressure sometimes for some students,” said Nicole Miller, a sophomore at Mansfield High.

She said class rankings can cause cut-throat competition among her peers.

“I think people try to compete to try to get the highest ranking,” said Miller.

But soon, this source of stress could be no more. The principal and guidance director at Mansfield High are asking the School Committee to eliminate class rankings.

Mansfield wouldn’t be the first local school to do away with them. Walpole abolished them years ago, and their principal said it actually increased their college acceptance rates.

“Colleges are then in one sense forced a little bit to … see some of the other things that the student has going on their transcript and their resume rather than just how they compare to other students in the building,” said Walpole High School Principal Sean Imbusch.

Mansfield’s School Committee will vote on the proposal on Feb. 11.

The principal said it’s been largely well-received.

“If you’re worried about the number, you’re not really worried about learning," said one mother. “It’s very rough for the kids to have to compete like that.”

Though there are some parents who think class rankings should remain.

“I think it probably is a little helpful to know where you stand but I don’t think it should be, a way to, be judged I guess if you’re trying to get into college,” said Lori DeLang of Mansfield.

School districts that have already eliminated class rankings include: Acton-Boxboro, Ashland, Brookline, Canton, Framingham, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lincoln-Sudbury, Medfield, Millis, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton North, Newton South, Norwood, Sharon, Walpole, Wayland, Wellesley, Westbrook, Weston and Westwood.

© 2020 Cox Media Group