the high school that my youngest attend has announced that they intend on moving to a non-ranked system next year and will be eliminating the valedictorian/salutatorian as well as a couple other honor awards that are given to graduating seniors.
I decided to do a little research and apparently this is a trend https://nypost.com/2017/06/15/schools-ditching-valedictorians-so-every-student-can-feel-special/
Also, as luck would have it, the first person to be affected would be my daughter, she is currently the #1 ranked Jr and to say that she is not happy would be an understatement.
I am going to be going to a school board meeting in about a week, and I would like to see how this actually works in other schools, as I specifically have concerns about my daughters now lack of recognition, I feel like it will be a disadvantage when competing for scholarships and college admittance.
I also wonder about what happens when you change the incentives to succeed if there are unintended consequences, similar to what is referenced in freakonomics.
Any input if you are familiar with it would be appreciated.