Why is the implementation of learning outcomes assessment in higher education proceeding so grudgingly? When assessment results are obtained, why are they so rarely integrated into the strategic planning process? These questions remain prominent in spite of over a decade of intensive effort on the part of educational accrediting agencies to facilitate outcomes assessment. One widely held notion is that the major impediment is technical--finding the right measures or the right data collection and analysis methods. However, the use of effective evaluation methodologies in other fields makes this notion questionable. It is all the more so when one recognizes that many of the very methodologies used effectively in fields outside higher education were developed by educators and are often effectively applied by educators in their own professional disciplines. These authors assert that, though technical hurdles remain, the existing general knowledge base on research methods, along with the more recent availability of education-specific tools such as electronic portfolios, standardized testing services, survey services, and assessment management software, makes the technical deficit explanation of education's slow and sporadic progress dubious. This article addresses these puzzling questions and suggests that motivational rather than methodological factors present the primary challenge. The authors' analysis is based on observations they have made at colleges and universities across the United States while working with faculty and administrators on assessment implementation strategies.