This article is devoted to explaining the use and misuse of standardized tests in adult literacy programs. Among the topics covered on that subject are why the tests are of such interest among adult educators: because the authority vested in these tests can determine the way programs are developed, what is taught, the climate of teaching and learning, the shape of legislation, the funding policies of public and private agents, which young parents are eligible for welfare, the composition of job training programs, and, in some cases, whether one has access to the military, a job, or a diploma. The report emphasizes that it is meaningless to make grade-level comparisons of adult reading and explores whether the tests measure only trivial subskills, whether the tests ignore knowledge theory, whether the tests assess literacy in a vacuum, whether the tests confuse learner and program evaluation, and what standardization means. The Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and alternative assessment approaches are described. Also discussed are the recency of the movement toward nonstandardized assessment and the notion that perhaps the federal call for standardized assessment is a sign that adult basic education may be coming of age. The document concludes with the names and addresses of 14 literacy experts who were helpful in the preparation of this report. (CML)