This report documents strategies that can be used to initiate development of a technical skill test item bank and/or assessment clearinghouse and quantifies the cost of creating and maintaining such a system. It is intended to inform state administrators on the potential uses and benefits of system participation, test developers on the needs and expectations of secondary and postsecondary educators, and federal policymakers on system capabilities and constraints. This report opens with a review of the rationale for creating a test item bank and assessment clearinghouse and includes a discussion of current state approaches to assessment and the drawbacks associated with existing systems. Section 2 summarizes findings from a survey of state administrators that was used to identify state testing needs and outlines the design criteria researchers will need to address to meet state needs. Sections 3 and 4 draw upon state-identified design components to propose an implementation model for the test item bank and assessment clearinghouse, respectively. Each section closes by identifying a recommended model and the cost estimates associated with its creation. The paper concludes with recommendations for initiating the nationwide development of a test item bank and assessment clearinghouse. Results of State Survey are appended. (Contains 22 tables and 8 footnotes.)