SBG Implementation Without Transparency and Accountability at Field Middle School - District 31
We are documenting the rollout of Standards-Based Grading at District 31's Field Middle School to provide community visibility and transparency of an implementation that has lacked accountability by the Administration and Board.
This website was built by community members using public records, district documents, and the district's own survey data — information that exists but is largely disjointed and has not been proactively shared with families. It is not a case against SBG as a concept. It is a case for a thoughtful and effective implementation: one that gives teachers adequate time and support, communicates transparently with families, and earns genuine buy-in rather than pressing forward over the objections of the people most directly affected.
What the evidence makes clear is that the scale, complexity, and stakeholder support required for this change has been consistently and continues to be severely underestimated. Teachers, students, and parents should not be asked to absorb the burden of a rollout that still has significant unresolved foundational issues. Every grade that enters Field Middle School deserves better preparation than what 6th grade in ‘25/’26 received.
An Ineffective Middle School SBG Implementation
In April 2026, Superintendent Dr. Erin Murphy sent an all-staff email acknowledging "a high level of frustration with standards-based grading at the middle school level" and ongoing "concerns about purpose, preparedness, and implementation" that they (the Administration) "have not gone far enough" to address. That email came after a full school year in which 6th grade teachers had been raising those same concerns — in formal written documents, in structured meetings, and in direct emails to district leadership — beginning before the first quarter SBG report card was even issued in Fall 2025. It also came after the district's own parent survey showed that 76.5% of respondents found the Q1 report card unclear, and more than half said they had not received adequate information about how SBG works. The district conducted that survey in November 2025 and never proactively shared the results with parents.
This website exists because that pattern — concerns documented, concerns acknowledged, concerns not meaningfully addressed — defined SBG implementation at Field Middle School throughout its first year. And somehow, the district is preparing to continue roll-out at Field in Fall 2026 without a transparent, public accounting of what went wrong in year one. If teachers, students, and parents are struggling, why isn't the Administration meaningfully addressing the concerns raised? Why is the Board not doing their elected duty and holding the Administration accountable?
The Standard the District Set for Itself
District 31's own SBG Handbook describes the vision for Standards-Based Grading this way:
"In West Northfield District 31, we envision a dynamic PreK-8 learning environment where our grading and reporting system fosters a culture of continuous growth focused on student learning. Our mission is to empower every student on their learning journey by recognizing their strengths and providing regular feedback and personalized support.
In our vision, the grading and reporting system is a transparent, meaningful, and actionable tool that reflects a holistic understanding of each student's academic and behavioral development...
We aspire to build strong partnerships with parents and the community, fostering open communication and collaboration. The District 31 grading and reporting system will serve as a bridge to connect educators, students, and their families by creating a shared understanding of progress related to grade-level proficiency expectations so that meaningful conversations can be had about each child's learning and growth."
— D31 SBG Handbook
It is a compelling vision. Transparency. Meaningful communication. Strong partnerships with families. A grading system that serves as a bridge rather than a barrier. These are the district's own words, and they set a clear standard. The 2025–2026 6th grade rollout at Field Middle School fell significantly short of it.
What Actually Happened
What transpired was a significant gap from the District's laid out vision and commitments
For Parents
For Teachers
For Students
The sum total of district communication to 6th grade families before and during the rollout was:
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a single email in May 2025 noting a "hybrid" grading model would begin in the fall;
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an 18-minute one-way Zoom presentation in September 2025 — after the school year had already started with no opportunity for two-way dialogue;
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a last-minute email in October announcing the hybrid model had been scrapped, with no substantive explanation why;
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a one-week parent survey in November whose results were never shared back with the community despite multiple families requesting them; and
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focus group sessions in the spring, by which point the year was nearly over.
There were no town halls. No updated district website. No proactive FAQ. No two-way dialogue at scale.
The record is documented in their own words. Before the first report card was issued, 6th grade teachers submitted a formal written letter to administration describing the social-emotional toll on students and staff, unanswered foundational questions about daily grading practice, and a request for alternatives to the current approach. They raised the same concerns at a structured check-in meeting. They raised them again in February and March in direct emails to the Director of Curriculum and Instruction — emails that were later captured in a public FOIA request. In the most detailed account, a teacher wrote with the Assistant Principal copied: "I know we have been asking the entire year for a chance to talk with 6th grade core academics, arts and Spanish, and yet that hasn't been granted once... Most of us don't feel great about what we are doing." The district's formal December 2025 written response to all of this: "We will continue to implement fully SBG in 6th grade and continue with preparation to roll it up to 7th grade and 8th grade as planned."
The district's own summary of parent open-response survey feedback reported that students "felt demotivated" by the grading system and that parents were frustrated the system "does not translate to letter grades, GPA expectations, or the structure students will be judged by in 9th grade." Teachers documented students asking why they were seeing what translated to Cs, Ds, and Fs — and "feeling stress because they have to tell parents why they're getting low letter grades." These concerns were raised in October and likely contributed to the scrapping of the hybrid model. And yet, the hybrid model is what administration is proposing to rollout in Fall 2026.
What is at stake now?
The district is planning to continue the rollout of SBG at Field in the Fall of 2026 when there was no clarity of how concerns will be addressed and corrected at the end of the ‘25/26 school year. The Superintendent has committed to presenting a "comprehensive update" to the Board in June 2026. If the update is for continued expansion, won’t the same foundational failures repeat at a larger scale? Can they be addressed when we have just the summer to do so and teachers are on break?
The unresolved questions are not small ones. Teachers still lack consistent answers to basic grading questions. Parents still don't understand how to read the report card. The gap between the SBG system and what students will face in high school has never been formally addressed. Key support staff who should have anchored the rollout departed before it began. And the administration has, to date, consistently prioritized communicating the rationale for SBG over substantively engaging with the documented concerns about its implementation. This approach with no accountability cannot continue. It is a reasonable ask for transparency, accountability, and community voices to be listened to with meaningful actions.
Make your voice heard. Come out to the next board meeting with a public comment. Email / call the administration and Board.
Transparency
Shed light on the grading rollout and district data to ensure families have a clear path of understanding.
Accountability
Hold the School Board and Administration responsible for the promises made in the district SBG handbook.
Community Voice
Empower educators, parents, and students to have a seat at the table in shaping SBG.