Changes in accreditation policies and institutional practices have led to the emergence of student learning outcomes assessment as an important, increasingly common expectation in U.S. college foreign language programs. This volume investigates contemporary outcomes assessment activity, with a primary focus on useful assessment, that is, assessment that is put to use proactively by foreign language educators. Authors approach the topic from distinct perspectives, ranging from a study of national trends in outcomes assessment practices, to reflections on assessment experiences by program leaders, to case studies highlighting language educators' implementation and uses of outcomes assessment for diverse curricular and pedagogical purposes. This book contains the following chapters: (1) The Usefulness of Accreditation-Mandated Outcomes Assessment: Trends in University Foreign Language Program (John McE. Davis); (2) The Uses of Use-Focused Assessment: Two Chairs' Perspectives (Theodore J. Cachey, Jr. and Peter C. Pfeiffer; (3) "Centering" Collegiate Foreign Language Departments Around Useful Outcomes Assessment: Challenges and Opportunities (Lance R. Askildson and Hiram H. Maxim); (4) The Uses of Accountability (Amanda Randall and Janet Swaffar); (5) Formulating Effective Student Learning Outcomes Through Utilization-Focused Evaluation: A Case Study of a University Japanese Program (Shoko Sasayama); (6) Developing Learning Outcomes for First-Year Arabic at the University of Notre Dame (Ghada Bualuan and Amaya Martin); (7) Assessing the Intermediate Level: A Critical Juncture in German Outcomes Assessment (Hannelore Weber); (8) Journey Greater Than the Destination: A Department and Program Perspective on Utilization-Focused Assessment (Alessia Blad and Shauna Williams); (9) A Tale of Two Cultures (Anna De Fina and Donatella Melucci); and (10) Foreign Language Curriculum as a Means of Achieving Humanities Learning Goals: Assessment of Materials, Pedagogy, and Learner Texts (Marianna Ryshina-Pankova).