This paper on assessment in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program for welfare recipients is intended to help administrators of JOBS programs weigh the possible benefits and drawbacks of the assessment choices they must make. Chapter 1 explains why assessment matters to JOBS administrators. Chapter 2 suggests a conceptual framework for assessment in JOBS and identifies dimensions along which assessment systems can vary. Chapter 3 discusses key issues in assessing participants' immediate employability or job readiness. Strategies and issues in assessing basic literacy, vocational abilities and interests, and social service needs are presented in Chapters 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Chapter 7 describes the experiences of several welfare-to-work programs in designing and implementing assessment systems. Chapter 8 reviews operational considerations that should inform JOBS administrators' decisions about assessment practices, including resource constraints, staffing, the need to tailor assessments to special populations, and information-flow issues. The conclusion reviews trade-offs in overall JOBS program design as they relate to assessment. Three types of guides to the text are provided: table of contents, summaries or key issues at the end of many chapters, and major points printed in boldface type throughout the text. (YLB)