The long-range research and development needs for integrating assessment into instruction are discussed, and how ready the educational community is to begin making blueprints for this integration is explored. This paper addresses the problems of learning progress, diagnostic assessment, the design and implementation of performance tasks, and mapping collections of tasks in order to make an instructional domain to guide instructional adaptation. The paper is a formative and conceptual discussion, rather than a comprehensive literature review. It is, in effect, a review of issues rather than one of accumulated evidence. The following basic issue categories are explored: (1) instructional goals, domains, and treatments; (2) reference tasks and teacher assessments; (3) the nature of learning from instruction; (4) diagnostic assessment for instructional use; and (5) psychometric problems. A summary of the research agenda and recommendations is included. Building domain topographies for instructional assessment is a step toward theories of understanding for the domains addressed. Three tables and three figures illustrate the discussion. (Contains 296 references.) (SLD)