The district's decision to eliminate an honor roll for middle school students may have been publicly announced on Tuesday, Feb. 7, but was years in the making. 

During an interview on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 8, BMS Principal Dr. Andrew Anderson said officials have spent a lot of time examining how the school reports students' grades.

"We've been working on this for three years," said Dr. Anderson.

The principal sent an email to parents of middle school students on Tuesday that stated the school had "changed its practice regarding honor roll." It continued "We will be no longer posting honor roll as we have done in the past. We made this shift to emphasize the learning process and the application of skills and content, not the grade."

Barrington residents "re-imagine extraordinary education."

That statement grabbed the attention of some media outlets, and on Wednesday morning, WPRO radio spent some time criticizing the decision.

A second, longer email from Dr. Anderson went out to parents on Wednesday afternoon that further explained the reasoning behind the elimination of the honor roll, which had been printed regularly in the Barrington Times.

"This decision came out of committee work, conversations around grading, and ultimately what is best for all students, not just some students" stated the email. "This decision is also supported by a body of research that emphasizes the learning process. A traditional honor roll is counter-intuitive to that core fundamental belief. BMS will continue to celebrate students who demonstrate academic, civic, and social expectations through frequent and year-end recognition ceremonies."

The elimination of the honor roll is coordinated with the move toward standards-based grading and away from traditional grades. 

With the incoming sixth grade class next year, the school will employ a progress report that features academic ratings such as "strong command of the grade-level standard" and a separate section for ratings for specials and approaches to learning, such as "student consistently demonstrates this skill" or "student demonstrates this skill some of the time."

The email stated that the new grade reporting next year will allow educators the opportunity to "provide parents with information regarding both students' content mastery and their ability to apply their learning."

Dr. Anderson and Barrington Superintendent Michael Messore said many schools are making the move toward standards-based grading, even at the high school level.

The email to middle school parents also explained how student stress and other factors weighed into the decision-making process.

"We know that the middle school age student faces a number of social, academic, and emotional changes. The traditional honor roll does not acknowledge the whole student and is not an effective measure or representation of success," it stated.

"… over the past couple of years, BMS has made a number of shifts with regards to its grading practices. These shifts included instituting a redo/retake protocol that gives students an opportunity to show what he/she has mastered, implementing a district-wide homework policy, transitioning to trimesters to provide extended opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery, emphasizing that zeros are not an option, and involving students in the reflective learning processes."

Dr. Anderson said the majority of the feedback he has already received from parents has been positive. Some media outlets have reported that a petition has been started, asking that the decision to eliminate the honor roll be reversed.

"Our focus has always been, and will always be, on the students’ learning experience," wrote Dr. Anderson. "In fact, it is due to these beliefs that Barrington Middle School has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon School and a Commissioner of Education’s Commended School (2015 and 2016)… we will continue to recognize and celebrate the students who have demonstrated mastery, shown academic growth, and engage deeply with the learning process through school-wide celebrations and acknowledgments in ways that are more meaningful than averaged scores."