In response to a prevailing demand for better quality education in public schools in Pennsylvania, procedures were developed to measure the adequacy and the efficiency of the educational programs in public schools. The objectives currently assessed are in the following areas: communication skills (reading and writing), mathematics, self-esteem, analytical thinking, understanding others, citizenship, arts and humanities, science and technology, work, family living, health, and environment. This manual contains the information necessary to interpret the 1986 Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) reports and to learn about the background and development of the program, the statistical bases of the reports and recommendations for releasing the data. It includes details about all five levels assessed (grades 4, 6, 7, 9 and 11). Part I contains the history and background of EQA, goals of quality education, designing the assessment package (content and item selection, matrix sampling design, reliability and validity), prediction bands, condition variables, terms and definitions, administration procedures, and instrument rationales. Part II contains a summary of the instruments (listing the rational/measurement, the subscales and/or sample items, and the response choices/scoring) and information on interpreting the EQA school report. Part III contains policies and recommendations for releasing EQA data, comparisons of pre-1985 grade 11 EQA data to current data, and item comparisons across grade levels. The EQA Teacher Questionnaire is appended. (JAZ)