In response to the need to develop reliable methods of evaluating Texas students' achievement of essential competencies, this study was designed to develop multiple-choice test items in food and nutrition in all comprehensive homemaking education courses, the semester course in food and nutrition, and all occupational methods of teaching food and nutrition to students with varying abilities. In addition, guidelines for developing non-testing devices for determining students' achievement of specific essential competencies in food and nutrition were determined and expanded upon. Eleven objective tests designed to test the subject area of food and nutrition, including 1,112 multiple-choice test items, were administered to 1,146 students enrolled in vocational home economics education courses in Texas. Items field-tested in this study were gathered in two ways: (1) identification and revision of appropriate test items found in the literature, and (2) development of test items by the research team based on the essential competencies and information found in state-adopted textbooks. Test items categorized by level of difficulty are presented in numerous tables. All tests developed for the study had a high level of reliability. A major factor contributing to this could be the detailed test administration instructions developed for the study, which reduced errors. It was also found that non-testing methods would be needed for some psychomotor skills, and other methods were needed for assessing some students in vocational education for the handicapped who did not respond well to written, multiple-choice tests. Recommendations were made to develop further test items so that they correlate with essential competencies in the Texas standards, to continue the validation and field-testing procedures used, and to develop non-testing evaluation instruments. (KC)