Information is presented regarding the administration of the North Carolina Minimum Skills Diagnostic Testing Program. This testing program, mandated by the state's basic education program under the Secondary School Reform Act of 1984, checks the necessity for remediation by determining a student's mastery of specific objectives and diagnoses specific deficiencies in a student's achievement. This report presents information on the following topics: (1) program management; (2) duties and responsibilities of the test coordinator; (3) objectives for the testing program for grades 3, 6, and 8; (4) guidelines for test storage and inventory systems; (5) information on scanning and scoring; and (6) promotion standards for North Carolina's public schools. (SLD)