Four essays and associated introductory text constituting the proceedings of a symposium on statewide testing in Texas are presented. The papers include: (1) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Historical Perspective" (Glynn Ligon); (2) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Local School District Perspectives" (Whit Johnstone and others); (3) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Test Author/Publisher Perspectives" (Mikel Brightman and others); and (4) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Governmental Perspectives" (Elaine Davis). Audience questions and comments are included. Recommendations and comments are made concerning the following topics: defining who is being held accountable and how; the three most important issues in statewide testing programs (money, time, and usefulness of data); the need for more focus on the sample of items used for norm-referenced scores on subsequent statewide tests; problems associated with legislators' role in educational policymaking; the need for interlevel articulation of the reasons for testing and how research will influence testing programs; and related testing problems. It is concluded that: Texas schools have become more accountable; education in Texas has improved for lower achieving students, but not for higher achieving students. (TJH)