This paper explores the purpose and key challenges of assessing students’ learning, based on lessons learned from several projects undertaken over the last five years at the Harvard Kennedy School. The first part explores purpose: how might engaging in robust assessment of students’ learning bring value to the leadership of an entire School, as well as to leaders of different academic programs within a School? The second part describes several different approaches and formats used for assessing HKS students’ learning. The final section summarizes the challenges that HKS faced when engaging in, and institutionalizing, the process of assessing students’ learning, followed by some preliminary recommendations for addressing those challenges.
