The Degrees of Reading Power Test was developed to address some existing problems in testing comprehension. The test design reflects the need to consider problems of passage dependency, difficulty of questions, tests for continuous text, and sensitivity to gains. It emphasizes a set of response options controlled for familiarity, a text that is informationally adequate to determine the best choice, and that only one answer is correct. It employs a structural cloze format. A language/centered test such as this one encourages students to apply an array of language skills. Some possible instructional techniques that result from the introduction of a meaning-based testing instrument might include a language-centered curriculum using changes in word order; the addition of words, phrases, and clauses; and the use of discourse markers. Vocabulary development should include strategies with synonyms, classifications, connotative and denotative meanings, and multiple meanings. Instruction should be directed to such language cue systems as semantic meanings of words; word affixes influencing meaning and function; phrase and clause structures; identification of antecedents of pronouns, proverbs, and anaphora; and structures in paragraphs and structures modifying sentence, paragraph, and section meanings. (TJ)