The statewide student assessment programs of the 15 member states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in the 1987-88 school year are described. Individual summaries of the testing programs provide information on the types of tests used in the SREB states--Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia--at each grade level. During the 1987-88 school year, every state in the SREB except one administered a criterion-referenced test to its students on a statewide basis. Every state used a norm-referenced test of some kind in 1987-88. No more than 3 of the 15 states used the same "national" test; for nearly half of these states, the test used in 1987 was not the same as that used in 1983. In 10 states, students had to pass a graduation examination to receive a high school diploma. Three states administered tests at every grade level from kindergarten through grade 12, while 3 tested at 10 grade levels, 1 tested at 8 levels, 3 tested at 7 levels, and 2 tested at only 3 levels. While Georgia became the first state in the country to require a norm-referenced test of readiness for the first grade, North Carolina discontinued testing grades 1 and 2, and Mississippi discontinued testing kindergartners. With more testing today than ever before, there are many questions about what kinds of tests and what degree of testing is best for students, schools, and states that the SREB urges member states to study. Twenty-four data tables and one graph provide the state testing statistics. (SLD)