High stakes testing has been in place in North Carolina since the late 1970s with highly visible, nationally norm-referenced tests administered to all students in several grades, as well as minimum competency testing as part of high school graduation requirements. A current back-to-basics movement has resulted in cuts to the testing program. A new plan for educational improvement will focus on schools rather than school systems, and will designate rewards for schools with solid performance and exemplary growth and interventions for schools that lag. The first code of ethics for North Carolina testing personnel was published in 1988 to help ensure the integrity of test results and a "level playing field" for all schools. In 1995 a committee was convened to begin to revise the"Testing Code of Ethics" to reflect new programs and new technological approaches to testing. Attachments include the current code of ethics, a model local school board policy statement, and a draft of the new code. (Contains five references.) (SLD)