The objectives of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program for 1972-73 are: (1) to provide State officials and citizens with information which contributes to an understanding of the educational needs of the State's school children and to the analysis of the educational system's response to these needs; (2) to provide citizens and educators with information regarding the public school districts and schools, the children's needs, and the district's responses to these needs; (3) to provide school districts with basic information regarding students to help students, parents, and educators assess their progress; and (4) to provide citizens with information regarding the progress of the Michigan educational system as a whole and the progress of its school districts and schools over a period of years. The methodology to be used in accomplishing these objectives is an educational management system, known as the accountability model, which has six basic components: (1) identification of common goals, (2) establishment of performance objectives, (3) assessment of needs, (4) analysis of delivery systems, (5) evaluation, and (6) recommendation for improvement. Procedural issues concern: who will conduct the program, who will be included in the program, which fourth and seventh graders will be given the assessment battery, how long it will take to administer the battery (word relationships, reading, mechanics of written English, mathematics, and composite achievement), steps being taken to assure some degree of standardization in administeration, who will administer the battery, when it will be administered, etc. (DB)