West Cook News

A community group says Oak Park and River Forest High School administrators are misrepresenting academic research and state test score data, claiming it shows a proposed honors class ban won't hurt top students, when it shows the opposite.

In a newsletter distributed to members Tuesday, the Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education, or E3 Group, said it spoke with the author of a paper cited by OPRF officials, who "expressed surprise to learn it was being used to substantiate policy decisions," as it wasn't based on rigorous studies. 

"While the meta-analysis is a valuable tool to cumulate and summarize the knowledge in the research field, it should be noted that only four out of the 15 reviewed studies employed (U.S. Dept. of Education) research standards," said Dr. Ning Rui, who wrote the paper as a University of Pennsylvania graduate student in 2009. 

Rui now serves as co-chair of the American Educational Research Association. 

OPRF Director of Student Learning Laurie Fiorenza, in her presentation to the board, wrote that Rui's study "demonstrated positive effects on low-ability achievement with no measureable effects on average- to high-ability student achievement."

Rui said Fiorenza should consider "the context and limitations of prior studies about school restructuring and possibility of varied effects with different populations and school contexts...to avoid over-generalization of (research) findings." 

"The decision to implement (an honors ban) in a particular district should be made on the basis of knowledge about the conditions and resources that are required to support high-quality instruction in a heterogeneous context rather than simply looking at the point estimates reported in the literature," Rui said.

The E3 Group also criticized Fiorenza for citing an article by a fellow OPRF administrator, Peter Bavis, claiming an honors class ban at Evanston Township High School has resulted in "positive outcomes."

"State data shows student achievement at ETHS has trended downward" since the honors ban, the E3 Group wrote.

"The Illinois State Board of Education report card does show a narrowing of the “achievement gap” between black and white students, from 60% in 2017 to 53% in 2019 for English language arts.  But that narrowing came about through lower overall achievement," it said. "While the gap at ETHS has narrowed, it has come at the expense of achievement and student potential."

In September, West Cook News reported on a new grading scale being implemented at OPRF, in which 80 percent would earn an "A" grade and a student would have to earn 19 percent to fail a class.

The E3 Group describes itself as "an ad hoc community group" that "grew out of concern over significant changes in education, especially in curriculum and instruction." It was founded in Sept. 2019.

OPRF is hosting a Webinar on Tues. Oct 26 to answer questions about the honors ban. 

The Oak Park and River Forest High School Board of Education will formally vote on the honors ban proposal on Thurs. Oct. 28.