Grades in school have remained notoriously imprecise and lacking in meaning. The authors suggest that grades should, first of all, be accurate. This means they shouldn't include nonacademic factors and grades for group work and they shouldn't be calculated using averages or zeroes. Second, they should be consistent, which schools and districts can ensure through clarity of purpose, the use of performance standards, and clear policies and procedures. Third, they should be meaningful; providing standards-based grades makes grades meaningful because they create a profile of student achievement that shows the student's areas of strength and areas that need improvement. Fourth, they must be supportive of learning. Teachers should only use scores from summative assessments to determine grades. Formative assessment uses narrative commentaries that should not be included in determining grades. (Contains 1 endnote.)