""The big point -- it comes up over and over again as crucial -- is the importance of quick and detailed feedback. Students overwhelmingly report that the single most important ingredient for making a course effective is getting rapid response on assignments and quizzes. ... An overwhelming majority are convinced that their best learning takes place when they have a chance to submit an early version of their work, get detailed feedback and criticism, and then hand in a final revised version. ... Students improve and are engaged when they receive feedback (and opportunities to use it) on realistic tasks requiring transfer at the heart of learning goals and real-world demands.""
"Change Your Gradebook into a Logbook
Only list things in your gradebook that students and parents can Google. If the search of that assignment title doesn't bring up the beginning of the breadcrumb trail you intended, then you need to word it better.
I used to list things like "Quiz 1" or "Homework from Chapter 3" in my gradebook. No one has any idea what those are, and if those scores are low, no one has any idea how the kid can improve them.
This is opposite of how psychology shows that humans work. We want to be shown our mistakes so we can fix them. Student grades need to fluidly move up and down as kids show learning, retention or lack thereof.
So, start listing the big ideas from your course as your assignments. "