How well do grades convey student attainment and progress?

Geoff Masters contends that assessment grades are poor indicators of where students are in their long-term learning progress. “This is because grades are always specific to a particular piece of work or a particular course of learning. They are ratings of how students performed on a defined and limited body of curriculum content.” Despite their apparent clarity (A means A, E means E etc) grades are far from transparent indicators of student learning achievement and progress and the meaning of, and distinctions between, grades are often lost on parents. And because they are specific to each year’s curriculum some students receive the same grade each year, and are potentially labelled as a ‘D-student’, despite their progress. A useful school report identifies and explains where students have reached in their learning and what the next steps should be and how parents could assist them in making those steps.