It is common to create courses for the higher education context that accomplishes content-driven teaching goals, and then develop assessments (quizzes, exams) based on the target content. However, content-driven assessment can tend to support teaching- or teacher- centered instruction. Adult learning and educational psychology theories suggest that instead, assessment should be aligned with learning, not teaching, objectives. To support the alignment of assessments with instruction in higher education, the Assessment Evaluation Rubric (AER) was developed. The AER can be utilized to guide the development and evaluation/revision of assessments that are already used. The AER evaluates four features of an assessment: its general alignment with learning goal(s); whether the assessment is intended to/effective as formative or summative; whether some systematic approach to cognitive complexity is reflected; and whether the assessment (instructions as well as results) itself is clearly interpretable. Each dimension (alignment; utility; complexity; clarity) has four questions that can be rated as present/absent (or yes/no), or, using a three-level ordinal scale describing “present-useable”, “possibly present - needs clarification”, and “absent”. Other rating methods can also be conceptualized for the answers to the AER’s 16 questions, depending on the user’s intent. Any instructor can use the AER to evaluate their own assessments and ensure that they -or new assessments in development - will promote learning and learner centered teaching.