The "Competent Group Communicator" is an assessment tool designed to evaluate the performance of individual members who participate in task-oriented small group discussions. This instrument is designed to be used to evaluate the performance of students enrolled in a small group communication course, as a course placement tool, as a pre- and posttest of student mastery of group communication competencies, or to assist academic institutions in determining the effectiveness of small group communication instruction in group communication courses. Support is provided for six task competencies and three relational group communication competencies. Task competencies are: (1) define the problem; (2) analyze the problem; (3) identify criteria; (4) generate solutions; (5) evaluate solutions or alternatives; and (6) maintain task focus. Relational competencies are: (7) manage conflict; (8) maintain a supportive climate; and (9) manage group interaction. Besides these two groups of competencies, there is a 10th general evaluation of overall problem-solving competency. Pedagogical and research support for these individual competencies is provided, along with criteria for assessing student performance of each competency as either excellent, adequate, inadequate, or not used. A discussion of how the instrument was developed and a report of on-going validity and reliability tests are presented. This paper extends previous work by identifying a new format for assessing the problem-solving competency of members of a small group and incorporates the most recent efforts to develop a valid and reliable tool to assess small group communication problem solving. (Contains 2 tables, 2 evaluation forms and 76 references. A pilot test is appended.) (Author/CR)