Issues in alternative assessment for accountability purposes are discussed. Most new forms of performance assessment are linked in the literature, but all alternative forms of assessment do not have the same attributes in terms of technical and feasibility criteria. Tradeoffs in the validity of inferences that can be drawn from alternative assessments and typical multiple-choice assessments must be assessed in light of the costs of performance assessment. There are problems to solve before implementing performance assessment including a host of technical and practical problems in terms of its use in large-scale assessment. Curriculum forces and the educational policy community are committed to shifting from assessment solely through multiple-choice to assessments that represent more important knowledge and skills closer to the attributes of interest. The question is not whether we will have performance assessment, but rather when. The way to move to performance assessment for accountability purposes is to tackle change in stages, planning for implementation and including planning for reporting results. Performance assessment is going to be a part of the response to the new American pluralism and to the increasingly global society. (Contains 12 references.)