One of our nation's educational triumphs is that admission to college has been brought within the reach of a majority of our high school graduates. Yet inadequate preparation often deprives students of this opportunity. Their stunted hopes are a major reason for growing naitonal concern about the quality of education in our schools. The College Board is reacting to this concern through its Educational EQuality Project. Under its banner, statements of seven Basic Academic Competencies and six Basic Academic Subjects have been published in a document entitled "Academic Preparation For College: What Students Need to Know And Be Able to Do." It describes what students need to know in English, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign languages, and the arts, and what students need to be able to do in terms of reading, writing, speaking and listening, doing mathematics, understanding computers, and studying. For those concerned with testing these statements provide an intriguing challenge. Examinations focused on the desired outcomes could determine the secondary school curriculum. But that would be an anathema in our non-system of education. And so we must wait until persuasion has begun to work and then adapt our tests gradually to the changing curriculum. (Author/PN)