Deficiencies in the format, content, and predictive validity of a high school credit-by-examination test in Spanish I were addressed in a study of the proposed adoption of the Level-1 1988 National Spanish Examination (NSE) and a 20-item supplement written by S. Segal that required students to write one-word answers. The NSE, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, had been previously rated valid and reliable in a study involving 69,214 students. In the supplement, which was designed to address the specific goals of the school district, each examinee was asked to complete sentences with the appropriate present tense verb form of the Spanish infinitive provided. Interviews with 22 school district Spanish teachers contributed to the development of guidelines for use of the NSE and supplement. Six administrators then reviewed the guidelines. Twenty of the 22 Spanish teachers subsequently indicated that the NSE and supplement fully tested the performance objectives in the district's Spanish curriculum. All of the teachers supported adoption of the test and its supplement. Twelve appendices contain the credit-by-examination survey; the school district's Spanish I, French I, and German I tests; the ethnic distribution of Hispanics in junior and senior high schools; the Level 1 1988 NSE; the 1988 NSE survey; the 1988 NSE statistical report; the performance objectives of the Spanish I course syllabus and an item-by-item analysis of the Level 1 1988 NSE; the supplement to the NSE; the evaluation interview for the NSE and supplement; and guidelines for pilot testing a new credit-by-examination test for Spanish I. (SLD)