This paper examines the major issues to be faced and the decisions to be made in the development and administration of basic competency tests used for the certification of teachers. The focus is on the use of competency tests as criteria in determining the initial certification of teachers, as differentiated from the ongoing observation and evaluation of practicing teachers. The first section of the paper addresses issues surrounding the definition of teaching competence and the resulting constructs to be assessed. The second section, on validation strategies, examines technical issues involved in teacher competency test validation and the relevance of different types of validity evidence. The final section provides an overview of issues related to equity and fairness of the testing process and the accompanying legal and ethical considerations. (JD)