A comprehensive student basic skills assessment program was developed at St. Louis Community College (SLCC) at Florissant Valley to appraise student readiness to take courses, gather information for counseling and advising, diagnose student problems, and evaluate program efficiency and effectiveness. The steps taken in developing the program were: (1) defining the purposes of the assessment program; (2) determining the constituencies to be served; (3) learning from programs at other schools; (4) analyzing assessment instruments; (5) conducting research on the effectiveness of standardized tests; (6) implementing a formal decision-making process for the program; and (7) implementing the program. At SLCC, the assessment process begins with the student's admission to college, which is followed by the administration of a basic skills battery (unless the student qualifies for exclusion), an orientation session, an appointment with a counselor or advisor, and course registration. The process is designed to be conducted in 1 day, and, although students can participate in parts of the process over a longer period, it is hoped that 70% of the students at SLCC can be served through the 1-day assessment model. Other colleges contemplating the development of an assessment program should avoid slickly packaged assessment systems and tests that claim to be quick and easy; and use tests as an adjunct to advising and counseling rather than as ends in themselves. (HB)