The goal of progress testing is to capture student progress mostly for feedback and benchmark purposes. “Progress Tests“ are tests that are developed and applied externally to curricular units, to understand what students are learning along their studies in higher education. The same tests are taken at the same time, 3 to 4 times every year, by all students of a given higher education degree. Progress test scores allow comparisons between students in different moments of learning. One of the best examples for the use of progress tests is taking place in Holland for more than fifteen years, in which most medical schools are using the same tests to understand the outcomes of their educational programs (1). This introductory course to progress testing introduces the concept and the processes of developing, managing and scoring progress tests.

“Progress Tests“ draw on a common question bank to assess all students in a program against intended graduation outcomes. As they require investment of developing and administering tests, it is important that we offer opportunities to reduce the cost and yet follow students’ knowledge growth over time in a valid and reliable way. Though widely used, the science behind writing items and assessing students’ knowledge in a trustworthy way may be difficult to master. It requires careful planning and preparation, and thoughtful reflective attention to multiple details. The goals of this workshop are to introduce the Progress test, the dos and don’ts and the alignment between test, feedback and learning outcomes.

(1) Tio, R. A., Schutte, B., Meiboom, A. A., Greidanus, J., Dubois, E. A., & Bremers, A. J. (2016). The progress test of medicine: the Dutch experience. Perspectives on medical education, 5(1), 51-55.