There have been several national calls to revise undergraduate biology education to focus primarily on core concepts and skills as opposed to topics.  Many departments have been moving toward this goal, but have lacked a means to measure their progress.  We have developed, validated and field-tested a programmatic-level assessment called BioMAPS (for Biology-Measuring Achievement and Progress in Science) that is aligned with the core concepts outlined by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) report Vision and Change.