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.
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)
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)
University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) (Narrative evaluations are given in addition to letter grades. Recently, narrative evaluations were made optional.)
Bard High School Early College: 6 locations in the United States, including NYC, Cleveland, Baltimore, Newark, and Washington D.C. (Narratives in addition to letter grade)
Waring School, Beverly, MA (Grades are never used; written evaluations at midterms, longer written evaluations at ends of semesters)
