While Illinois educational officials developed a uniform assessment manual to accompany standardized tests, a companion handbook was developed by a consultant for use with teacher- and district-made tests. Criterion-referenced or mastery tests were the subject of the handbook. The handbook was designed to assess content validity as well as provide "split-half" and internal consistency information to determine test reliability. Statistical methods incorporated into the handbook utilized classical as well as the simpler, criterion-referenced methods. A training videotape is designed to accompany the handbook, and it includes short student performances of five skills; the tape is designed for use during inservice training as a means of illustrating actual performance upon which the trainees can hone their rating abilities. Specific topics covered in the handbook include establishment of testing objectives, development of paper-and-pencil tests, performance or product assessments, establishment of levels of reliability of paper-and-pencil tests and performance ratings, objectives and assignments related to performance assessments, rating performance, rating scales and checklists and scoring, and interrater reliability. A copy of the handbook's detailed table of contents is appended. (TJH)