The California Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) is a comprehensive educational system designed to enable adult educators to develop and evaluate a life skills curriculum for competency based educational programs. The system comprises the CASAS Competency List, the CASAS Item Bank, the User's Manual, the Curriculum Index and Matrix, and Implementation Workshops. The CASAS Item Bank is referenced to the Competency List and consists of more than 2,400 test items which measure life skills. The User's Manual provides technical information related to test construction and field test studies. CASAS has the potential for increasing the precision in placement, monitoring, certification, and evaluation of students and programs at local, state, and national levels. Validity and reliability of items are discussed. The long term effects of CASAS implementation are increased accountability of literacy programs and meaningful reporting of progress. (DWH)