This handbook is designed to guide readers in developing a local assessment of their community's progress toward achieving the National Education Goals. It is organized around those questions that the National Education Goals Panel has used to measure national and state progress. The introduction includes a history of the National Education Goals and information about the 1991 and 1992 Goals Reports. There are five characteristics that are useful for local community goal reports: outcome orientation, world-class standards comparison, use of broad indicators, progress over time, and decade-long progress. The guide is organized around the six National Education Goals. Each section is devoted to one of the six goals, beginning with the goal statement and objectives. These are followed by appropriate questions to ask in assessing progress toward that goal. Next is a section titled "Measures To Use," in which each question is taken up individually, with answers provided that were developed in the 1992 National Education Goals Reports, the pages on which the data appear in the report, and suggestions on how to answer them in a local report. At the end of each goal section is a list of sources that can provide more information on specific goal areas. (JPT)