This document, part of a series of papers which describe the assessment of student learning in areas of the curriculum from prekindergarten through grade 12, focuses on assessment in the language arts. Current practices are reviewed. Subsequent sections describe guidelines for appropriate curriculum goals and content in language arts programs. A discussion of traditional and alternative assessment practices in language arts follows. Particular attention is given to portfolio assessment. Many of the strategies described are in the early stages of development and implementation. Some of the better-known assessment strategies such as portfolio assessment and performance assessment still lack clearly stated objectives and uniform standards or criteria for scoring. The approaches sketched in this report do have great potential for providing fair and accurate assessment, with significant impact on the instruction and learning of children. (SLD)