To reach the head of the class, students needed to conform to the school system and work equally hard at all subjects.
— Karen Arnold Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices
Tags: success, psychology, nonfiction, intelligence, education

Other Quotes by "Karen Arnold"

One of the problems with having time to read all that you want is that your interests become so eclectic it's hard to focus.
— Karen Arnold Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices
Tags: success, psychology, nonfiction, intelligence, education
From kindergarten to the valedictory address, schools grade, rank, and label their best performers. The top high school student wins the first major life contest, a competition in which most members of society participate. Following high school, victors enter subsequent contests at an advantage. The race is never restarted.
— Karen Arnold Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices
Tags: success, nonfiction, intelligence, education
To be number one is to be publicly labeled a winner in the system that counts – a system of advancement through personal merit and effort in rugged competition. Labels of success – Rhodes scholar, Nobel laureate, Heisman Trophy winner – follow a person through life and define him or her to the public. One such label, valedictorian, marks academic winners. Schools in the United States have at least one common belief: high academic achievement is a good thing.
— Karen Arnold Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices
Tags: success, nonfiction, intelligence, education
That is, ability, values, opportunities, gender, culture, and social class all affect the aspirations and achievements of academically talented students. So does chance.
— Karen Arnold Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices
Tags: success, psychology, nonfiction-criminal-justice, intelligence, education
Valedictorians were highly motivated to excel academically because of early family and school experiences.
— Karen Arnold Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices
Tags: success, psychology, nonfiction, intelligence, education
View More by "Karen Arnold"