The Bureau of Indian Affairs Task Force on Testing has developed a testing policy to aid Native American students in securing quality education and to improve the quality of the Bureau's educational programs. The Task Force reached the conclusion that most if not all commercially available standardized or norm-referenced tests unfairly discriminate against the Native American in such a manner as to deprive him of equal education opportunity and the subsequent denial of equal opportunity in pursuing higher education and the attainment of economic freedom and security. The testing policy is based on two primary positions: that standardized tests developed on population norms, having as their primary purpose the ranking of students on inferential scales so they may be compared with one another, should be phased out, except as specified; and that criterion-referenced tests tied to curriculum content and integral with educational and behavioral objectives become the tests of choice. The conclusion concerning norm-referenced tests was based on findings that their potential for misuse and subsequent harm outweigh their positive value, especially in light of their lack of utility in educational prescription, classroom strategies, and visibility on behavioral objectives achievement. The new policy is student-centered, protects the rights of students, allows the use of standard and clinical tests for diagnostic purposes, and provides for program and student self-evaluation. (For related documents, see TM 002 526-534, 536-541.) (KM)