This bulletin discusses current issues and practices in social studies assessment, ways to improve testing, and methodologies to strengthen the validity, reliability, and value of tests. The primary purpose of the bulletin is to bring the social studies profession up to date about the issues and strategies involving criterion-referenced testing. The bulletin is comprised of six chapters. Chapter I examines current issues in social studies testing. There has been inadequate treatment of assessment issues in social studies for a long time. Most "methods" texts, for example, offer simplistic, generalized descriptions of the assessment processes. Another problem is that student outcomes are often written in a vague and general way and, therefore are difficult to measure. Chapter 2 presents the procedures, findings, and conclusions of the Committee on Testing established by the National Council for the Social Studies to study testing practices in social studies education. Chapter 3 presents a brief introduction to and definition of criterion referenced tests (CRTs). The important characteristics of CRTs are explained and are contrasted with norm-referenced and objectives-referenced tests. Perhaps the most important characteristic of CRTs is that the outcomes to be tested must be clearly defined and described. Chapter 4 extends those ideas introduced in chapter 3 by applying them in a school setting. Chapter 5 analyzes the National Assessment of Educational Progress for its efficacy relative to individual student diagnosis and remediation. Procedures for ensuring a basic level of psychometric integrity for CRTs are presented in chapter 6. Appendix I contains a brief bibliography of social studies tests and Appendix II presents statistical data for chapter 6. (Author/RM) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Program Description (Operating Procedures).