Progress test: A review to motivate their use in pharmacy schools in Brazil

Progress Test (PrT) is a longitudinal assessment strategy in which tests composed of contents from all the curriculum are periodically applied to all students of a course. Such strategy allows measurement of deep, long-lasting meaningful learning as well as early detection and remediation of underperforming students. It was introduced more than forty years ago, and it has been used in several health schools in the world, especially medicine. Assessment of students’ knowledge gain and its application over the course is a challenge. PrT has become a relevant method to monitor the development of the student through graduation. There is no culture of using longitudinal assessments in Brazil's pharmacyschools. This scenario is an opportunity for use of PrT. The objective of this work is to make a literature review about how progress test has been used in context of education. The authors also discuss the possibilities of PrT’s application in Pharmacy undergraduate courses in Brazil. PrT has a long history of use by various institutions in the world. Most user experiences come from medical schools, but there are articles showing the application of PrT in dentistry and psychology schools. PrT has been shown to be an effective assessment tool in a problem-based (PBL) and traditional curricula. PrT is recommended as a tool to longitudinal assesses growth in knowledge. Phamacy schools may develop their own framework for PrT collaborations, which could optimize the educational utility of student’s assessment instruments as tools to enhance learning. Key words: Progress test, assessment, knowledge.