Background Practical, reliable “real world” measures of cognition are needed to supplement neurocognitive performance data to evaluate possible efficacy of new drugs targeting cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. Because interview-based measures of cognition offer one possible approach, data from the MATRICS initiative (n =176) were used to examine the psychometric properties of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS) and the Clinical Global Impression of Cognition in Schizophrenia (CGI-CogS). Method We used classical test theory methods and item response theory to derive the 10-item Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI) from the SCoRS and CGI-CogS (“parent instruments”). Sources of information for CAI ratings included the patient and an informant. Validity analyses examined the relationship between the CAI and objective measures of cognitive functioning, intermediate measures of cognition, and functional outcome. Results The rater's score from the newly derived CAI (10 items) correlate highly (r =.87) with those from the combined set of the SCoRS and CGI-CogS (41 items). Both the patient (r =.82) and the informant (r =.95) data were highly correlated with the rater's score. The CAI was modestly correlated with objectively measured neurocognition (r =−.32), functional capacity (r =−.44), and functional outcome (r =−.32), which was comparable to the parent instruments. Conclusions The CAI allows for expert judgment in evaluating a patient's cognitive functioning and was modestly correlated with neurocognitive functioning, functional capacity, and functional outcome. The CAI is a brief, repeatable, and potentially valuable tool for rating cognition in schizophrenia patients who are participating in clinical trials.