This guide begins with a series of questions and answers which introduce Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory as a 188-to 190-item multiple choice test for fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades. Items are selected from a 400-item bank using matrix sampling procedures. Test results are analyzed at the school level; no individual student profiles are given. Ten goals underlying the EQA are presented, with the rationale for the goal, measurement rationale, descriptions of the items, and brief summaries of validity studies. The goals are: (1) self esteem; (2) understanding others; (3) basic skills; (4) interest in school and learning; (5) citizenship; (6) health; (7) creative activities; (8) career awareness; (9) appreciating human accomplishments; and (10) information usage. Sections are also included on measurement safeguards; designing an assessment package; matrix sampling testing design; and test reliability. (GDC)