This booklet examines national and state educational reform in the 1990s, noting the ways in which performance assessment is being presented as a mechanism of reform. Three reform initiatives are examined: national education goals, standards, and reform legislation. In conjunction with these reform movements, new methods of assessment are being called for. Large amounts of money and excitement have surrounded national and state reform activities that either directly or indirectly are connected to the idea of performance-based assessments. Major national data collection efforts have changed to adopt the performance assessment approach, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the National Adult Literacy Survey. Participation of students with disabilities in national assessments is problematic, constrained by the lack of accommodations. The use of performance assessment is also increasing in statewide assessment programs, requiring that accommodations and adaptations for students with disabilities be considered. There is some evidence that the use of performance assessments may not benefit students with disabilities, and to date, their use has not increased the participation of students with disabilities, but they hold the possibility of more equitable student measurement. (Contains 43 references.) (JDD)