In response to a legislative mandate, this report assesses the validity of the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and offers recommendations for increasing the passing rate of students. Section I summarizes the Florida State Legislature's interest and intent in establishing CLAST an achievement test--measuring skills in computation, reading, and writing--which must be passed by all students seeking an associate of arts degree at the state's public community colleges and admission into upper division at the state universities. Section II: offers review of the trends and public concerns that contributed to the establishment of the statewide college-level testing program in Florida; highlights testing projects that preceded CLAST; and describes CLAST. Section III presents the results of a study by a consultant team of the psychometric validity of CLAST, revealing that, although most sections of the test were reasonably reliable and valid, improvements in the reliability of the writing test were recommended. Section IV offers recommendations related to the design of CLAST and strategies for improving students' test performance, including: (1) state universities and community colleges should improve linkages with feeder high schools; (2) each institution should track the performance of its students on the college entry-level test to identify at-risk students; and (3) colleges should reinforce essential skills throughout the curriculum rather than in English and mathematics courses alone. CLAST skill statements, codes, and test specifications and the consultants' report are appended. (UCM)