Narrative Assessment

Waverly’s progres­sive philos­o­phy is effec­tive in promot­ing student learn­ing. Students are so immersed in their learn­ing that by the end of the year, there are observ­able changes in their devel­op­ment over a variety of well­ness and learn­ing cate­gories. From preschool through 12th grade, Waverly uses forma­tive assess­ment to eval­u­ate students. These assess­ments reflect the range of devel­op­ment in students. Student progress is reflected in assess­ment check­lists and narra­tives, teacher obser­va­tion notes, infor­mal faculty conver­sa­tions, parent feed­back, and student self-reflections. 

A devel­op­men­tal check­list and student narra­tive report is posted in the parent portal, Waverly’s online commu­ni­ca­tions system, to parents/​guardians in Febru­ary and June. Devel­op­men­tal assess­ments eval­u­ate each student inde­pen­dently, rather than grading students against a stan­dard or norm. Students are eval­u­ated by their indi­vid­ual skills and abil­i­ties, and teach­ers look closely at how each student is progress­ing in acad­e­mic and social areas. There is no rela­tion­ship between devel­op­men­tal assess­ments and tradi­tional grades, since students at Waverly are eval­u­ated inde­pen­dently on their own progress through­out the year.

A creative, respon­sive curricu­lum merits mean­ing­ful, authen­tic assess­ment. Waverly teach­ers use many tech­niques for measur­ing and sharing student progress. They check for under­stand­ing and growth on a daily basis through obser­va­tion and eval­u­a­tion of written and spoken expres­sion. Students may create projects, write papers, or present research either indi­vid­u­ally or as part of a small group. Teacher feed­back comes as detailed written sugges­tions on an assign­ment or as verbal responses in the context of a class discus­sion. Teach­ers also guide self-reflec­tion and peer review. While teach­ers may occa­sion­ally use quizzes or tests to eval­u­ate under­stand­ing, testing is not the ulti­mate measure of ability, knowl­edge, or performance.

Waverly believes that a focus on letter grades distracts students from the most impor­tant elements of their educa­tion. Here, the empha­sis is on indi­vid­ual acad­e­mic progress rather than grades. Teach­ers write narra­tive analy­ses of student work and cumu­la­tive progress reports to provide more insight into the intel­lec­tual devel­op­ment of each student than can be indi­cated through letter grades. Students receive the narra­tive assess­ments at the end of each semes­ter. These reports high­light strengths and areas for growth. Because of our consis­tent empha­sis on the impor­tance of posi­tive, caring rela­tion­ships, Waverly is a safe envi­ron­ment to offer and receive construc­tive feed­back. Addi­tion­ally, because of the small student-to-teacher ratio, teach­ers are able to confer with one another frequently to discuss the acad­e­mic, social, and behav­ioral needs of the students.

For 9th-grade course place­ment, letter grades are recorded on a cumu­la­tive tran­script for 8th-grade students in Algebra I, Geom­e­try, and Spanish I. If students apply to high schools other than Waverly, these grades will be made avail­able and sent as part of the student’s transcript.

A creative, respon­sive curricu­lum merits mean­ing­ful, authen­tic assess­ment. Waverly teach­ers use many tech­niques for measur­ing and sharing student progress. They check for under­stand­ing and growth on a daily basis through obser­va­tion and eval­u­a­tion of written and spoken expres­sion. Students may create projects, write papers, or present research either indi­vid­u­ally or as part of a small group. Teacher feed­back comes as detailed written sugges­tions on an assign­ment or as verbal responses in the context of a class discus­sion. Teach­ers guide self-reflec­tion and peer review, as well. While teach­ers may occa­sion­ally use quizzes or tests to eval­u­ate under­stand­ing, testing is not the ulti­mate measure of ability, knowl­edge, or performance.

Waverly believes that a focus on letter grades distracts students from the most impor­tant elements of their educa­tion. Here, the empha­sis is on indi­vid­ual acad­e­mic progress rather than grades. Teach­ers write narra­tive analy­ses of student work and cumu­la­tive progress reports twice a year. These semes­ter reports are designed to provide insight into the intel­lec­tual devel­op­ment of each student. 

For the purposes of college admis­sions, letter grades are recorded on a cumu­la­tive tran­script for high school students, but the school eschews conver­sa­tions based on letter grades. We encour­age students to focus on learn­ing for learning’s sake, to note where growth is needed, and to adopt specific strate­gies for improve­ment when neces­sary. Students in 9th and 10th grades receive their cumu­la­tive GPA at the end of each school year. Grades are made avail­able to students and parents/​guardians begin­ning in 11th grade. In 11th and 12th grades, students receive grades for each class to help them prepare for the college application process.