Narrative evaluation

In education, narrative evaluation is a form of performance measurement and feedback which can be used as an alternative or supplement to grading. Narrative evaluations generally consist of several paragraphs of written text about a student's individual performance and course work. The style and form of narrative evaluations vary significantly among the educational institutions using them, and they are sometimes combined with other performance metrics, including letter and number grades and pass/fail designations.

Colleges and universities that use narrative evaluations

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)
  • Alverno College
  • Antioch College (Narrative evaluations are provided for most classes in addition to letter grades)
  • Antioch University
  • Bennington College (Letter grades are available in addition to narrative evaluations upon request on a per course basis)
  • Bard College (Students are given both letter grades and written comments via "criteria sheets" given mid-term and end-of-term)
  • Biola University (The Torrey Honors Program uses a twice-yearly Don Rags meeting with a professor, called a "mentor," in addition to letter grades.)
  • Brown University (Narrative course performance report optionally given in addition to letter grade)
  • Burlington College (Students are provided an option for traditional transcripts; school is no longer in operation.)
  • California Institute of Integral Studies (BA in Integral Studies and BA in Interdisciplinary Studies programs only; in conjunction with pass/no pass grades; for courses from fall 2003 through summer 2021)
  • College of the Atlantic (Allows you to opt out of receiving letter grades)
  • College of Creative Studies University of California, Santa Barbara (Performance based on work completed/reflected in units received)
  • Dharma Realm Buddhist University (Narrative evaluations are provided for most classes in addition to letter grades)
  • The Evergreen State College (Letter/number grades are never used)
  • Fairhaven College, Western Washington University
  • Goddard College (Letter/number grades are never used)
  • Hampshire College (Letter/number grades are never used for Hampshire students unless they are taking a Five College class; students in the Five College interchange can get letter grades when their home institution requires it)
  • Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, University of Redlands
  • Marlboro College
  • New College of Florida (Letter/number grades are never used)
  • New Saint Andrews College (Short evaluations in addition to a system of Latin letter grades)
  • Northeastern University School of Law (School of Law only, letter/number grades are never used)
  • Prescott College (Letter grades are available in addition to narrative evaluations upon request on a per course basis)
  • Quest University Canada (Narrative course performance report optionally given in addition to letter grade)
  • Reed College (Letter grades are available upon request)
  • Residential College, University of Michigan (Letter/number grades are assigned by request, evaluations by default)
  • St John's College (Known as the Don Rag; letter grades are recorded and available by request)
  • Sarah Lawrence College (Letter grades are provided to student upon request)
  • Soka University of America (Narrative evaluations and P/NP grade for up to 5 courses)
  • University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) (Narrative evaluations are given in addition to letter grades. Recently, narrative evaluations were made optional.)
  • University of Washington: Community, Environment, and Planning (CEP major only, narrative transcripts complement the Pass/Fail on the UW transcript)
  • Yale Law School (Letter/number grades are never used)

High schools that use narrative evaluations

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

External links

  • History and explanation of narrative evaluation system at Santa Cruz
  • The Role of Narrative Evaluations at the University of Redlands