A survey was conducted among 1,022 school board members and administrators to determine nationwide school district testing practices. Of the districts represented at the 1976 convention of the National School Boards Association which were included in the sample, 75% reported the existence of district-wide testing programs. The various types of testing programs, and the respondents' attitudes toward them are discussed. This report was written to familiarize school boards and administrators with the practice of standardized achievement testing, and to provide explanations of the criticisms of standardized testing. These criticisms should be considered by school boards before problems are encountered. Norm-referenced tests are criticized with respect to their unfairness, expense, interpretations of norms, poor construction, validity, bias, inexact scoring, and inappropriate use for political purposes. Several attempts at reform, including criterion-referenced tests, and the problems associated with these alternatives are described. The opinions of various professional associations toward testing are presented, and a 51-item bibliography is appended. (Author/GDC)