Because of the developmental characteristics of young children, the potential user of tests for educational evaluation needs to be keenly alert to the kinds of decisions which can be made on the basis of testing and to the limitations of testing when young children serve as subjects. The choice of a test to be used will depend on the type of decision to be made. Several decision types are discussed: program planning and evaluation, screening, and administrative decisions. After considering the type of decision to be made as a factor in test selection, several test characteristics should be considered: practical criteria, including relevance, scope, timeliness, importance, efficiency, and credibility; validity--content, discriminant, criterion, content, and edumetric; test reliability; and test bias. Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains are discussed in relation to determining what kinds of test characteristics are important in assessing for a particular educational decision. Some strategies which offer effective ways to obtain more ecologically valid assessment data are presented along with comments on other testing methods, human rights, and achievement tests. (RC)