SINCE NO TESTS OF SPANISH SPEAKING ABILITY AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL WERE AVAILABLE WHEN THE PROJECT BEGAN (1960), IT DEVISED THREE CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED ITEMS TESTING THE SEPARATE ASPECTS OF THE SPEAKING SKILL--PHONETIC ACCURACY, STRUCTURE, AND EASE AND NATURALNESS OF EXPRESSION. A RANDOM SELECTION OF FIFTH-GRADE PUPILS WERE TESTED INDIVIDUALLY, AND THEIR RESPONSES RECORDED ON MAGNETIC TAPE AND EVALUATED SEPARATELY BY AT LEAST TWO PERSONS. TEST ITEMS WERE DESIGNED TO BE EXPLICIT, AND TO REFLECT THE COURSE CONTENT AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE. SINCE NO OUTSIDE CRITERIA WERE AVAILABLE, THE BOOKLET OFFERS A DETAILED MATHEMATICAL PRESENTATION OF THE STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO THE COMPLEX PROBLEMS OF VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY. A MAJOR REVISION, BASED ON STATISTICS COMPILED FROM THE FIRST TEST, AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS OF THE TEST ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. THE TESTS HAVE BEEN FOUND SATISFACTORY BOTH AS CRITERIA OF PUPIL ABILITY AND IN DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN TEACHING METHODS. FOR COMPANION DOCUMENTS SEE FL 000 813, FL 000 820, AND FL 000 821. (RW)