This research brief summarizes the development of a standards-based student assessment system in Qatar, lessons for policymakers in Qatar and elsewhere, and challenges in aligning the assessment with future changes in the curriculum standards. Analysis of Qatar's standards-based student assessment system, the first in the region, offers several lessons for other nations instituting similar reforms. These include the importance of strong coordination of standards and assessment development, allowing sufficient time for a fully aligned assessment, and communicating about the purposes and uses of testing. Qatari policymakers need to address ongoing challenges in aligning assessments with future changes to the curriculum standards, determining how best to use computers in testing, and accommodating students with special needs. [This research brief describes work done within RAND Education under the auspices of the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute and documented in "Lessons from the Field: Developing and Implementing the Qatar Student Assessment System, 2002-2006" (Gabriella Gonzalez, Vi-Nhuan Le, Markus Broer, Louis T. Mariano, J. Enrique Froemel, Charles A. Goldman, and Julie DaVanzo), 2009.]