The Nebraska Assessment Battery of Essential Learning Skills (N-ABELS) is a goal-oriented instrument with an evaluation component providing a basis for determining acquisition of twelve skills defined as learning goals. Each goal is stated in terms of an acceptable performance standard which clearly describes what the student must do. The skills included are reading (decoding an oral passage); writing from dictation (encoding); spelling; mathematics, including basic computation with whole numbers and decimal fractions; map reading; and three information retrieval skills involving the dictionary, encyclopedia, and card catalog. There is no relationship between skill mastery and grade level, but most skills should have been introduced by grade 5. Mastery is defined as errorless performance; therefore N-ABELS differs from standardized achievement tests since the latter are norm referenced to scores of other students at the same grade or age. Although N-ABELS is a marked departure from most school testing programs, it is easily understood by the public. An accountability base is thereby established. The administrative manual identifies the criteria for the selection of N-ABELS skills and the assumptions underlying the battery. General directions for administering including ordering, preparing students and parents, determining mastery, and modifying for special students or local needs. Each skill section has its own directions for administering and determining mastery, sample exercises, and answer key. Concluding the manual is the 2,000-word N-ABELS Vocabulary, a consolidation of six standard vocabulary lists. The N-ABELS Vocabulary forms the basis of the reading, writing, and spelling exercises. A grade level list shows the level at which the words are first introduced in elementary school textbooks. (Author/CP)