A Mississippi HS had two black female students as their valedictorian and salutatorian. Until...

[Nevilledog]

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chris evans
@chris_notcapn
·
Jun 1, 2021
A Mississippi HS had two black female students as their valedictorian and salutatorian.

Then suddenly, hours before the graduation, they announced two additional students were ALSO the valedictorian and salutatorian for a total of four. The school has deleted their social media
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chris evans
@chris_notcapn
Their FB page is now gone and they’re getting dragged. The school claims they use two metrics to decide the valedictorian and salutatorian— GPA and QPA. The black students were chosen based on QPA and the two additional white students — GPA. But why wasn’t that announced before?
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[doc03]

1. Can't have black students smarter than white students.

They had to cheat somehow.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

11. Particularly those females.

[nykym]

2. SO another case of

white conservatives claiming they are scared for our country!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Sounds like the normal BS to me. n/t

[jmbar2]

4. QPA?

What in the hell is that?

[ProfessorGAC]

6. According To This, Nothing

Students' quality point average (QPA) is the same as a GPA. The QPA is calculated by dividing the total number of credit hours attempted in classes with A–F letter grades into the total number of quality points earned.

. Link: https://www.cabrini.edu/about/departments/academic-affairs/grading-and-academic-progress#:~:text=Students'%20quality%20point%20average%20(QPA,number%20of%20quality%20points%20earned.

But, according to this, it's weighted based upon hour value of a class. (e.g.-A 4 hour class is worth more than a 3 hour class.

Educational acronyms can be very confusing simply in trying to figure out what the letters represent. Knowing the meanings of each letter is especially important when it comes to determining grades. QPA and GPA are two very important acronyms that appear on transcripts. Schools use the grade point average, or GPA, of students to represent the grades the student’s earned in various classes. They also use a quality point average, or QPA, system, which multiplies the student’s GPA by a specific multiplier. Colleges determine the multiplier by the number of credit hours that a class is worth.

The latter is from classroom dot com.

Based upon the 2nd definition, QPA seems higher value than GPA. So, the original 2 honorees should still have stood alone.

[jmbar2]

7. You put my mind at rest

I get nervous anytime I see "Q" now...

[ProfessorGAC]

8. That Never Occurred To Me

Having worked with quality assurance folks for a couple decades, I immediately see "Q" as quality.
But, I don't blame you for your trepidation, one bit!

[PA Democrat]

9. My understanding is that the QPA allows an additional multiplier of .1 for honors

classes. so an A in a 4 hour honors class would be worth 4 x 4 x 1.1 = 17.6

An A in a regular 4 hour class would be worth 4 x 4 = 16

[ProfessorGAC]

14. That May Be!

But, neither of the references I found was specific about that.
That does make sense though.

[leftieNanner]

15. So many puffed up parents

like to report their students' GPA over 4 because of AP Classes.

Granted, I'm proud of my kids and they both took APs, but all the colleges normalize the GPAs back to the 4 point scale.

[jmbar2]

17. That makes sense

[Jedi Guy]

10. I dunno how this school does it, but I went to high school in southern Mississippi.

My school also used the GPA/QPA system. The idea was that grades in more difficult or demanding classes weighed more than less difficult classes. So for instance, a B in calculus is worth more than an A in algebra. Or a B in anatomy and physiology is worth more than an A in biology.

Not necessarily a perfect system, but it did attempt to address the reality that not all classes are equal in terms of difficulty. A senior with a 4.0 who took the easiest classes the school has to offer shouldn't be valedictorian over a senior with a 3.8 who took the hardest classes the school had to offer. The latter's class load is clearly more challenging than that of the former, and should be recognized as such.

[LeftInTX]

12. It is used by universities to determine scholarships

My son was in advanced placement/honors and those courses were weighed differently.

I think high schools probably use it down here for class ranking also because when I tried to figure out my kid's GPA, I couldn't do it..LOL

[mathematic]

5. Why is everybody assuming this was white people being racist?

No, really. There are plenty of majority black areas of the deep south and this high school appears to be in one of them. Both of the principals Wynesther Cousins and Kendall Pickens are black. (https://www.westpoint.k12.ms.us/schools#) Were they being racist to award the white students?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Because it's generally a pretty good bet.

Were they being racist to award the white students?

A person might assume that they gave in to racist pressure from white parents who didn't want two Black girls leading the class.

[cinematicdiversions]

19. It is a horrible bet.

The majority of people are not racist. And to call out an African American principal and superintendent for being racist against blacks is beyond the pale.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. .

The majority of people are not racist.

No matter what the percentage is, the fact is we live in a white supremacy, and our institutions we all live and work in reflect that.

And to call out an African American principal and superintendent for being racist against blacks is beyond the pale.

That's...not what I did, but okay.

[Iggo]

23. I like when I see "beyond the pale" in a discussion of racism.

That’s all. I have nothing further to add.

[oldsoftie]

16. What system did they use in the past?

If this is new & wasnt announced at the start of the year, then BULLSHIT

[pinkstarburst]

18. Seems like that's the sort of thing

where you ought to explain the procedure for how it's done at the start of junior year and not deviate from it so no one can cry foul. Randomly announcing there will be extra valedictorian/salutatorians at the last second chosen by a different method... is going to look fishy whether it's a race thing, a male/female thing, or just plain because the teachers might favor one kid over another. I could understand if they'd said they'd discovered an exact tie. Fine, have four people in that case. But that's not what they're saying. They decided to switch up the rules. And that smells really fishy.

[Ilsa]

21. Why? because its fucking

Mississippi where Blacks and Jews are murdered for registering minorities to vote.

[eppur_se_muova]

22. Anyone who remembers high school should recall that admins can be ...

pretty insensitive to students' feelings, and make arbitrary and even whimsical judgements.

As long as it looks right to them, who cares how it feels to the people most affected? They're just kids! Whadda they know?