Valedictorian requirements spark debate about emphasis on ACT scores

JACKSON STANSIFER staff writer

Beginning with the class of 2022, the valedictorian requirements at WHS shifted.

According to Board Policy 5430, a valedictorian is the student with the highest ACT score, while any ties are settled by ranking students by cumulative weighted GPA. Casey Lin, 2022 WHS alum , who graduated during this system’s inaugural year, voiced her concerns about the new requirements when they were initially announced.

“I thought it was going to create unnecessary competition among classmates and make a simple score social validation for intelligence,” Lin said.

More recently, Margaret Davis, assistant principal at WHS, explained that the relatively new valedictorian system at WHS remains a topic of discussion and debate for students.

“Students [have] raised concerns about the fairness of the current requirements because of the emphasis on the ACT,” she stated.

One of these students is Jacob Hannan, a current senior at WHS, who agreed that the new system is flawed, and explained his perspective on the situation.

“The ACT measures one and only one thing: how well a student can take the ACT. It reveals very little about a student’s effort in classes, a student’s participation in activities, or a student’s impact on their surroundings,” Hannan said.

While issues concerning ACT emphasis increase the necessity to review the current valedictorian system, Lin explained that the best system might be no system at all.

“I do not think a ranking system is healthy for the students, for it creates unnecessary competition. Instead of focusing on the process of learning, many may want to compete for a higher ranking,” Lin said.

Hannan (12) agreed with Lin that the current system is insufficient, as he explained that there are more comprehensive ways to measure students’ academic success and effort than an ACT score, but also admitted that finding an ideal system would be difficult.

“Unfortunately, I see no easy way to [select a valedictorian], as almost every possible valedictorian requirement has some big flaws,” Hannan said.

Whether WHS chooses to keep the current valedictorian requirements, alter them, or get rid of the valedictorian honor altogether, Davis affirmed that there is an ongoing discussion among administration to change the system for selecting a valedictorian at WHS, although they are not yet sure what this process will look like, or how long any revisions may take to go into effect.

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