The United States educational system has more tradition and emotion bound to the concept of grading than nearly any other nation in the world. The concept of grades, their meaning, and implications are largely accepted by adults today, and understandably so, as many grades have serious consequences for a student’s future path in both occupation and earnings.

Whether resulting from the educational fallout of the COVID-19 global pandemic or merely challenging the status quo, more schools are transitioning their grading practices away from traditional points and percentages and towards 21st century grading practices such as standards-based grading, and proficiency-based grading.

The purpose of this book is to assist parents and guardians in understanding what is involved in 21st century grading and assessment. This book enables readers to become better partners with educators in efforts to understand students’ strengths and areas for improvement. Specifically, this book is designed to help parents and guardians:

1) understand how education has changed since they were in school,

2) recognize the limits of information typically communicated through electronic gradebooks and report cards,

3) appreciate the information communicated through standards-based gradebooks and

report cards, and

4) identify how 21st century grading and assessment benefits their student(s).