The Multilingual Test Development Project, recently completed in Seattle, Washington, has yielded a series of comparable oral proficiency tests in six languages designed for use with elementary school children, K-6. Extensive field-testing of the English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Ilokano tests was conducted with a research sample of several thousand students, both in the metropolitan area of Seattle and in several of the large migrant centers of eastern Washington and southern Idaho. This paper describes the project, reports on the preliminary findings, and focuses on the problems encountered and the solutions devised in attempting oral language assessment in a multilingual community. Both the findings and the research design will have implications for educational planning and program development by school districts throughout the country and for further research in these areas. (Author/BW)