Piece of evidence #347 of the politically correct dumbing down of our standards:

In top suburban schools across the country, the valedictorian, a beloved tradition, is rapidly losing its singular meaning as administrators dispense the title to every straight-A student rather than try to choose the best among them.

Principals say that recognizing multiple valedictorians reduces pressure and competition among students, and is a more equitable way to honor achievement, particularly when No. 1 and No. 5 may be separated by only the smallest fraction of a grade from sophomore science. But some scholars and parents have criticized the swelling valedictorian ranks as yet another symptom of rampant grade inflation, with teachers reluctant to jeopardize the best and brightest's chances of admission to top-tier colleges.

"It's honor inflation," said Chris Healy, an associate professor at Furman University, who said that celebrating so many students as the best could leave them ill prepared for competition in college and beyond. "I think it's a bad idea if you're No. 26 and you're valedictorian. In the real world, you do get ranked."

Not, though, at graduation from Stratford High School in the suburbs of Houston, which accorded its 30 valedictorians — about 6.5 percent of the class — gold honor cords. Nor at Cherry Hill High School East in southern New Jersey, which has revised its graduation tradition, picking a speaker among this year's nine co-valedictorians by lottery and printing speeches from the others in the program.

In Colorado, eight high schools in the St. Vrain Valley district crowned 94 valedictorians, which the local newspaper, The Longmont Times-Call, complained in an editorial "stretches the definition." And north of New York City, Harrison High School is phasing out the title, and on Friday declared 13 of its 221 graduates "summa cum laude."

William R. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissions at Harvard, said he had heard of schools with more than 100 valedictorians, and had seen home-schooled students praised as No. 1 — out of one — all of which has helped render the distinction meaningless.

"I think, honestly, it's a bit of an anachronism," he said. "This has been a long tradition, but in the world of college admissions, it makes no real difference."

Even some principals who have named multiple valedictorians acknowledge that the honor no longer carries the same weight.

 

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How Many Graduates Does It Take to Be No. 1?

 

Richard M. Hackett/The Longmont Times-Call

By WINNIE HU

Published: June 26, 2010

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/education/27valedictorians.html