Whether at work or in school, we are assessed continuously regarding our performance. In a school environment, assessment is primarily thought of in the context of student performance and learning, typically referred to as “assessment of student learning” and “assessment for student learning.” However, “assessment” can also be thought of in terms of course-, curriculum-, program-, or institutional-level evaluation. This chapter builds on the concept of student assessment and casts a reflective lens on evaluating the assessment process that has been put in place, whether within a course, across the clinical year(s), or across the curriculum. We also provide information about why and how a formal and explicit assessment structure should be created and ultimately evaluated. Note that while efforts are occasionally made to differentiate between “evaluation” and “assessment,” we follow the convention of treating these as equivalent and will use them interchangeably throughout the chapter (Scriven, 2003).

To provide context for the chapter, we begin by providing two definitions of assessment. Assessment of student learning has been defined as follows:

Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning. (Huba and Freed, 2000, p. 8)

Assessment of a course, curriculum, program, or institution in higher education has been defined as follows:

Assessment is the process of providing credible evidence of:

• Resources
  
• Implementation actions, and
  
• Outcomes

Undertaken for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of

• Instruction
  
• Programs, and
  
• Services

in higher education. (Banta and Palomba, 2015, p. 2)

This chapter is also meant to provide ideas about how best to capture information and evidence to answer questions regarding your assessment practices. Accountability in relation to how and why we assess our students is not a bad thing; by documenting our processes we provide transparency regarding our decisions, and the ability to reflect and improve on our assessment practices for the betterment of our students and schools. Questions that can be asked when evaluating assessment methods/programs include:

• Do the assessment methods capture data relevant to the course/program objectives/competencies of interest?
  
• Are the assessment methods organized/utilized in an effective manner to capture student performance?
  
• Are summative and formative assessments utilized?
  
• Do the assessment methods allow for the provision of feedback to the learner? In other words, in the assessment cycle, can performance information be provided to students to foster learning?
  
• Are assessment questions linked to specific course/program outcomes?
  
• Are the assessment methods feasible? Can all stakeholders understand and use the methods as they were intended given their respective constraints?
  
• Are scores from the assessment methods reliable and valid? Stated differently, is there evidence to support decisions (e.g., pass/fail, promotion, remediation, removal) made from the assessment scores?
  
• What are the perceptions of the participants involved in the assessment process? How do students, raters, and instructors perceive what is assessed, how assessment occurs, and how feedback is provided?