In Oak Park and River Forest, we pride ourselves on our work toward open housing and diversity, which started back in the 1960s. Building on that legacy, over the past 10 years Oak Park and River Forest High School has worked to better support the wide variety of students who call our community home – students of varying learning needs, students of all genders, and students of all racial groups.
This effort revealed that tracking at OPRF was a major impediment to the achievement of Black and Latinx students: these young people were overrepresented in the lower-level tracks even though they were capable of Honors-level work, a phenomenon recognized across the nation. As a result, in the fall of 2022, OPRF implemented the Freshman All-Honors curriculum in English, History, and Science. The program aimed to increase overall enrollment of students in upper-level, advanced coursework, especially increasing enrollment for Black and Latinx students.
The district’s own evaluations for the first two years of this program demonstrated that increased numbers of students were indeed enrolling in sophomore-level Honors classes — the intended benefit of the program. However, they also identified the need for additional academic supports for some students.
In June 2023, school administrators called for the training and support of new academic and social emotional interventionists to meet the “significant increase in student needs over the past several years, exacerbated by the pandemic.” In September 2024, outside consultants Isobar surveyed families and found that many wanted increased supports for their young people, summarizing their perceptions that “students who are struggling are not receiving the level of targeted support they need to be successful.” Also in 2024, community advocates released the report, “Historical Harms to the Black Community of Oak Park and Suggested Repairs,” which stated that a lack of support for Black student success in advanced courses is a systemic harm that needs immediate correction.
All of these recommendations point in the same direction: the Freshman All-Honors program is a worthy effort and is seeing success, but the high school needs to provide additional support. We believe that these supports could take a variety of forms. These might include:
- Research-based tutoring which involves students meeting multiple times each week with the same professionally trained tutor during the school day
- Co-teaching in the Freshman All-Honors classes, having two teachers in the same classroom to provide more one-on-one and small group teaching to students
- Additional reading and writing support classes for some students
- Trained academic and socio-emotional interventionists to address student needs
The most important next step that the school must take in determining these additional supports is to engage with the students and families who are most affected. They are the ones who know their needs and who can best advise the school on how to proceed.
All too often, OPRF has tried to implement grand plans without taking the time to engage in dialogue with those whom they exist to serve – the young people and their families. Aside from being practically problematic, operating without these conversations is contrary to OPRF’s own equity policies and assessment tools. We insist that, in this moment, the school must engage the young people and their families who need extra supports in Freshman All-Honors, and then provide the support that they need. This is what the school owes to them.
To learn more about our and others’ efforts to advocate for these supports, please visit http://bit.ly/oprf3calls.
Sources:
Young people of color underrepresented in Honors classes: https://www.beacon.org/On-the-Same-Track-P1104.aspx
Freshman Restructured Curriculum Quarter Three Update, April 13, 2023 COW meeting: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CQJSCE720637
2022-23 Freshman Curriculum Year 1 Evaluation, Sept 7, 2023 COW Meeting: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CUSGFK439AB1
2023-24 Freshman Curriculum Year 2 Evaluation, Sept 12, 2024 COW Meeting: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=D8UMXM5D633D
Isobar Restructured Curriculum Analysis Report, Sept 2024: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W-gQ0IMVIyX9kAyW59EgqykIuMswrm-T/view
MTTS Report, Regular BOE meeting, June 22, 2023: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CSUNHQ600D0F
Historical Harms to the Black Community of Oak Park, Illinois and Suggested Repairs: https://bit.ly/ophistoricalharms
Tutoring and Testing Center Update, Regular BOE Meeting, June 22, 2023: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CSULGP5672CF
Overview of research-based tutoring supports: https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/high-impact-tutoring
The Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education is a multi-racial group of Oak Park and River Forest residents advocating for racial equity at OPRF High School.