An individual student's educational experience often includes multiple transitions: progressing through K12 school levels, transitioning to postsecondary education or the workforce, and sometimes changing schools. It is important for both the student and the school systems that course information be easily understood and transferrable through each transition. Moreover, education stakeholders, including administrators, content-area organizations, postsecondary admissions officers, and researchers, are increasingly interested in comparing course offerings across schools. The School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED) Classification System was developed to meet the need for common, widely understood, standardized course codes that can be used to compare course information, maintain longitudinal data about students' coursework, and efficiently exchange course-taking records. This guide was developed by the National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum) to accompany the release of SCED Version 2.0 Course Codes at http://nces.ed.gov/forum/SCED.asp. It includes an overview of the SCED structure and descriptions of the SCED Framework elements, recommended attributes, and information for new and existing users on best practices for implementing and expanding their use of SCED. Additional information including the option set, format, and CEDS ID of each element is included in the Common Education Data Standards (CEDS). The content of this guide builds on previous work, including the 2007 document "Secondary School Course Classification System: School Codes for the Exchange of Data" (ED515113) and the 2011 expansion "Prior-to-Secondary Course Classification System: School Codes for the Exchange of Data" (ED514893). [This guide was developed through the National Cooperative Education Statistics System and funded by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. The SCED Working Group of the National Forum on Education Statistics produced this document.]