Let's talk about grades

In any high school, it's not too difficult to discern who the better and worse students are - you can tell from the way they engage (or don't) in the classroom. However, in the States, each student's grades are considered a private matter, and one that's slightly taboo to ask about. In Peru, the opposite is true: everybody knows exactly who's the best, second-best, etc. in the class, because grade rankings are publicly announced. They even take it a step further, inviting/requiring the top student in each section to wear a special armband on their school uniform every day (see the below photo for an example).

Parents will openly comment on which "place" their child occupies in school, and, naturally, a first-place student receives a certain amount of prestige. Students also freely discuss each other's respective grade rankings - there is no taboo, and no feeling that the second-place student might not want everyone to talk about the fact that he got 2nd instead of 1st place. To me, this feels a bit uncomfortable - raised in a culture where one's grades are a private affair, I get squeamish anytime someone publicly talks about who did or didn't do well on the test. It's also a strange concept for me as a teacher, since when I walk into a new classroom I know immediately which student gets the best grades.

While we're on the topic of grades in Peru, here's another random factoid: grades here are on a scale of 1-20; letter grades are nonexistent. I suppose having only five letters to choose from would make it more difficult to tie-break and decide who should be the #1 student.