School systems across the nation have used some form of instructional feedback, such as traditional and standards-based grading systems, to document students' academic performance. The urgency of developing an alternative grading system emerged because grades determined by teachers using the traditional grading system were unreliable. This study targeted three demographically similar middle school groups in Wayward Pines County (WPC, a pseudonym) Public Schools district in North Carolina during the 2018-19 academic school year, the last full year prior to COVID-19, a worldwide pandemic impacting all of education. A quasi-experimental research design was employed to evaluate statistical significance in the mean of students' end-of-year mathematics achievement scores based on the implemented grading system, gender, and race. A three-way factorial analysis of variance was conducted to examine differences in the mean of students' mathematics achievement test scores to answer one research question. While the descriptive statistics did not demonstrate variances based on implemented grading system, F(1,968) = .031, p = 0.859, the data revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean of students' achievement scores based on race, F(5,968) = 19.665, p < 0.001, and gender, F(1,968) = 2.758, p = 0.097. These findings indicated that further examinations of how grading systems impact students' end-of-year achievement tests are needed. Also, the findings of this study could premise data conversation starters on the two types of grading systems to assist school districts leaders, school administrators, and teachers in evaluating their effectiveness of communicating students' academic achievement with reliable grades. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]