The Connecticut Mastery Test testing program assesses essential skills in mathematics and language arts, including listening, reading, and writing, for grades 4, 6, and 8. For grade 8, student achievement is measured and reported in relation to specific learning objectives (criterion-referenced) that students can reasonably be expected to have mastered by the end of grade 7. In 1991, eighth graders mastered an average of 25.8 or the 36 mathematics objectives tested, a slight improvement over the 1990 result. A total of 87.8 percent scored at or above the remedial standard, equaling last year's figure. A total of 38.1 percent scored at or above the mathematics goal, an improvement over 1990's 37 percent. In language arts, the mastery of 8.3 of 11 objectives represented a slight decline from 1990. In writing, eighth graders showed improvement in meeting objectives and scoring above the writing goal, but there was a slight decline in students scoring above the remedial standard, from 93.2 percent in 1990 to 92.5 percent in 1991. Eighth graders averaged 63 units on the Degrees of Reading Power, equaling 1990's figure. Small improvements were registered in the numbers of students scoring above the remedial standard and the reading goal. Fourteen charts present test results and comparative information from 1986 through 1991. Twelve appendixes provide supplemental information on testing and scoring procedures. (SLD)