When the American Bar Association first began discussing revision of its accreditation standards for the J.D. degree to include a full-blown assessment requirement, I was skeptical. I saw “assessment” as more higher ed-speak with no benefit to students. “We’re already assessing students – we give final exams, writing assignments, and projects, and we track bar passage and career outcomes, right?” Later, as I learned more about assessment—including the differences between course-level and programmatic assessment—I came to the conclusion that, stripped of its at-times burdensome lingo, it was a simple process with a worthy goal: improving student learning through data-driven analysis. The process, I learned, was rooted in a scholarly approach to learning: define outcomes, measure and analyze direct and indirect evidence of student learning, and then use the information learned to improve teaching and learning.

Legal education is one of the last disciplines to adopt an assessment philosophy. Looking at assessment reports from programs, such as pharmacy, that have used assessment for years can be daunting. They have come a long way in a relatively short period of time. There is a dearth of information about assessment in legal education and, hence, this blog was born.  My goal is to bring together resources on law school assessment in one place while also offering my observations and practical insights to help keep assessment from drowning in lingo and endless report writing.  I hope readers find it valuable.