The author of this paper describes the responsibilities of the National Assessment Governing Board, of which she served as a member from November 1997 to September 2004. The Board is unlike any other board of which she has been a member. At the quarterly meetings, the Board not only discusses and makes major policy decisions but determines the inner workings of national assessments. The Board's responsibilities are spelled out in federal law. It is the policymaking board for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which examines samples of American students in a variety of subjects. The Board carefully discusses and decides which subjects will be tested, when tests will be given, how tests will be constructed, what kinds of standards will be used to gauge the results, and how the results will be reported to the public. The Board is also responsible for assuring that the assessments are valid, free of bias, and reliable. She states that her years as a Board member taught her a great deal. She saw a citizen Board function responsibly and energetically, and saw the internal operation of a consensus process that produced a genuine enthusiasm for high standards and educational excellence. If there should ever be a time when the United States again decides that national standards and national assessments are good ideas, the model created by the Board will stand forth as proof that such things can be accomplished without falling prey to political zealots, religious controversies, or the schemes of those who would use testing to advance their own narrow agenda.