Improving the quality of undergraduate speech communication education depends to a large extent on effectively measuring student achievement in college level communication skills. While formal tests are not as well developed for speaking skills as for other areas of the curriculum, they are available. The two used most frequently are the Communication Competency Assessment Instrument (CCAI) and the Speaking Assessment section of ACT's College Outcome Measures Program. Both of these assessment tools were founded on the premise that impressions of communication competence are based on actual behaviors. The ACT Speaking Skills Assessment consists of three 3-minute speaking assignments, based upon print stimuli material that students usually read in advance to allow preparation time. The speaking assignments are practical in nature and require about 15 minutes to administer. ACT provides the testing institution with rating scales and prescored speaking samples for later training. The CCAI is administered in three sections. The first part involves numerous judgments about students' speaking abilities. Next, the students view a videotaped class lecture, and then they respond to statements about both the videotape and experiences they have had. The CCAI assesses those speech skills that are directly observable in the impressions formed of students by others. Speech performance ratings such as these seem to offer the most effective evaluation of the skills learned in a speech communication class. (HOD)