Our schools seem under attack from all sides. These changes will do far more harm than good. Our kids need our prayers.

From The Federalist. Last week, a report appeared in the online news site West Cook News, with the headline “OPRF to implement race-based grading system in 2022-23 school year.” It spread like wildfire on Twitter, only to be “debunked” by just as many people, including Don Moynihan, who subsequently wrote on his Substack that “There is no race-based grading or no plans to grade students using different standards according to race.”

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On Tuesday, the school district, Oak Park River Forest High School posted a statement on their website, categorically claiming the report was false. By Wednesday, Facebook had declared the article to be fake news and was placing warnings on it.

But as is often the case, it just isn’t that simple. First, the opening paragraph of the original article states: “Oak Park and River Forest High School administrators will require teachers next school year to adjust their classroom grading scales to account for the skin color or ethnicity of its students.”

If one interprets this in a simplistic fashion, that interpretation is indeed false. OPRF is not giving black students bonus points in their grades, nor are they subtracting points from the grades of white or Asian students. But is that what the article really says? The article continues,

School board members discussed the plan called ‘Transformative Education Professional Development & Grading’ at a meeting on May 26, presented by Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning Laurie Fiorenza.

In an effort to equalize test scores among racial groups, OPRF will order its teachers to exclude from their grading assessments variables it says disproportionally hurt the grades of black students. They can no longer be docked for missing class, misbehaving in school or failing to turn in their assignments, according to the plan….

School administrators are basing their changes on a set of ideas articulated in several core books mentioned in the slide deck, including “Grading for Equity” by Joe Feldman and “Get Set, Go,”by Thomas Guskey, which was used as the prime text for the school’s 2021 – 2022 deliberations. These books promote a very specific grading philosophy, which is increasingly being adopted by school districts keen on being “progressive.”

In addition to the actions listed in the report above, “reformed” grading practices include eliminating homework from grading, permitting unlimited retakes on tests, and replacing Ds and Fs with “incomplete” grades. I have seen this also in my child’s school. I know that eliminating homework from a grade is meant to eliminate the benefit given to diligent students for doing the work regardless of whether they understand it. But this can harm students by removing an incentive to do their homework when they cannot learn the material without doing the homework to practice their skills.

Yes, This Is Totally About Race

There is a very clear reason school administrators are implementing these changes, and it has everything to do with race. As the last slide states, “Oak Park and River Forest High School administration and faculty will examine grading and reporting practices in academic and elective courses utilizing evidence-backed research and the racial equity analysis tool.”

In other words, when OPRF administrators state they are using the “racial equity analysis tool” in revising grading practices, this means they are making these changes with the objective of reducing the gaps between high-achieving-ethnicity and low-achieving-ethnicity children.

‘Grading for Equity’ Is Indeed about Race

Again, “equitable grading” or “grading for equity” is an education fad across the country. It is entirely appropriate to judge the OPRF plans based on what others have said about these ideas, because they draw on the same experts.

The first chapter of the book “Grading for Equity” is available online. A report on the plans of Pleasanton Unified School District in California likewise is quite informative. In that description, “equitable grading” involves getting rid of extra-credit opportunities, grade boosts for participation or attendance and the like, and cutting down the potential grade boosts of the stereotypical “brown-noser” while boosting other students’ grades. The point of all of these is to change the standards because certain racial groups fail to meet them as well as do other racial groups.

How are you praying for the youth of America as they are affected by harmful changes like these? Share your prayers below.

(Excerpt from The Federalist. Photo Credit: Kenny Eliason on Unsplash)