To help determine how the introduction of alternate assessment can be structured to maximize its acceptance and long-term adoption by teachers, a case study was conducted of the introduction of alternate assessment in a suburban middle school in the spring of 1991. Three seventh-grade life science teachers, three eighth-grade physical science teachers, two science supervisors, and one assistant superintendent were interviewed in the course of this study. Interviews were conducted as the middle school science teachers were revising end-of-year activities for their students and including alternative assessment in this revision. Hands-on testing was developed for both grades. On the whole, the teachers were pleased with their initial efforts at alternative assessment. Two factors encouraging sustained adoption of the new approach were dissatisfaction with the status quo and a belief that alternative assessment would help student learning. Concerns about the practical aspects of alternate assessment and resistance to change were two factors likely to tip the balance against alternate assessment. A common theme was the teachers' satisfaction with the fact that they had been given the power to design and conduct the assessment themselves. Four figures present some of the assessment questions and some aspects of test design. There is a 12-item list of references. (SLD)