(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A Chicago high school will be implementing a grading system based on race “to adjust classroom grading scales to account for skin color or ethnicity of its students,” Breitbart reported.
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Read about Oak Park-River Forest High School's new "equitable" grading policies here: https://t.co/bSIDDP2NUb
— Free Black Thought (@FreeBlckThought) May 31, 2022
Advocates claim this is a necessary move for Oak Park and River Forest High School, as “traditional grading practices perpetuate inequities,” a slide used in a presentation introducing the concept said.
Now, depending on their race, students will not be held accountable for missing class, misbehavior or failure to turn in assignments.
This plan was dubbed “Transformative Education Professional Development & Grading” by the school board.
“Teachers and administrators at OPRFHS will continue the process necessary to make grading improvements that reflect our core beliefs,” the plan, set to begin in the fall of 2023, says.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, 38% of sophomores fail the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
The failure rate was 77% for black students, 49% for Hispanic students, 27% for Asian students and 25% for white students.
Margaret Sullivan, associate director of the Education Advisory Board, put the onus on teachers, saying they need to recognize when “personal biases manifest.”
“Teachers may unintentionally let non-academic factors—like student behavior or whether a student showed up to virtual class—interfere with their final evaluation of students,” Sullivan said.
The change was called for after a spike in failing grades for the 2020-2021 school year.
“OPRF’s administration will adopt language that makes and keeps the system visible and continues to name racism as a complex interconnected structure,” the report said.
“We must recognize the unique challenges faced during the pandemic intensify the need for a systemic approach to confronting the racial and socioeconomic discrepancies often experienced by our underrepresented student population,” it added.
