The "Instructional Improvement Digest" communicates advisory information about practical courses of action that can be implemented by teachers and administrators to improve key areas of school instruction. The series digest topics draws upon inquiry associated with the Southwest Regional Laboratory for Educational Research and Development's Proficiency Verification Systems and Services and other pertinent research. The digest seeks to focus on matters of high priority in the conduct of current activities for instructional improvement. This article addresses the matter of how to use student test results for instructional purposes. It provides a simple and practical strategy for using test information sensibly. Interpreting test results, subtest labels, and test items are discussed. Good test consumerism requires judging test items according to the intention of instruction and interpreting scores according to their usefulness in instructional planning. (Author/PN)