This publication identifies and examines existing assessment instruments in oral communication for K-12 and higher education, and abstracts and describes assessment instruments and systematically reports their availability and interest to scholars, teachers, and administrators. It also provides background research needed to develop oral communication assessment instruments designed to encourage the development of new instruments. The document begins with an editor's foreword and a preface that relates alternative assessment, test fairness, and assessment utility to communication. It then presents an introduction to assessing oral communication, discusses topics including why oral communication skills should be taught, oral assessment for classroom decision-making, issues in assessing oral communication, locally developed instruments, and research and development priorities. The publication then discusses trends in K-12 state standards and assessment efforts, performance assessment, Speech Communication Association standards for assessment, and identification of measures. It then presents reviews of 16 oral communication assessment instruments for grades K-12. Next, it addresses the process by which instruments for higher education were identified and selected for inclusion, as well providing ideas for using the instruments. The final section presents reviews of 45 higher education instruments, divided into sections containing instruments intended for skills and behavioral assessment, or instructional and informative measures. (RS)