This issue of Measurement in Education is presented in the form of a dialogue between Dr. Robert L. Ebel, Distinguished Professor of Educational Measurement at Michigan State University, and Dr. Samual A. Livingston, Program Research Scientist at the Educational Testing Service. Alternative views on some aspects of the use of tests in assessing professional competence are presented. Livingston and Ebel direct special attention to the shortcomings and virtues of verbal knowledge, multiple-choice items, norm-referenced tests, conventional test statistics, and test validation. Livingston is more convinced of the shortcomings of the first four and the virtues of the fifth than is Ebel. Despite their differences, both agree on the need for psychometric excellence. (AL)