Are the grades primarily measuring our growth as a learner and writer or our mastery of the material?

Grades are determined by how well you analyze your work in terms of course strands and dimensions of learning and whether you provide ample evidence that your work matches with the appropriate grade criteria. I am not looking for "conversion stories" in which students explain how this class "changed [their] whole life." I am looking for an argument that shows evidence of learning and development in terms of the dimensions of learning and the course strands.