In this age of heightened accountability, academia is increasingly being asked to link assessment to candidate performance outcomes in multiple ways. Research demonstrates the importance of aligning assessment with content standards but cautions that it is critical that assessments match the content, cover a wide range of knowledge, are cognitively demanding, and avoid irrelevant materials. Case-based pedagogy is one way to link program content to classroom practice. Much of the research on case methods calls for the use of cases to "create bridges across the great chasm that divides policy from practice" in order to help teachers understand "how" practice is constructed in the classroom. Within case-based pedagogy, the cases become teaching tools that serve as a context for making meaning of concepts presented during instruction in a variety of instructional settings, and thus make understanding transparent. In this article the authors examine the use of candidate-authored case studies as a culminating assessment activity in one Reading and Language Arts Specialist Credential Program (RRLA) in a large, urban public university with a diverse student population in southern California. Candidates in the program earn an M.A. in Education, Option in Reading, along with the state-issued specialist credential. The authors ask the following research questions in order to examine the use of case-based assessment in the RRLA program: (1) Are case studies an effective way for graduate candidates to demonstrate knowledge and skills learned in the program?; and (2) Can candidates use case studies to demonstrate what they know about serving culturally and linguistically diverse urban students? (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)