The State of Florida has, for several years, been committed to perfecting a workable system of accountability for the public schools. The Florida Statewide Assessment Program, begun in 1971, has been an important element in this accountability effort. The Program was designed to assess students' academic strengths and weaknesses, particularly in the basic skills of mathematics, reading and writing. The purpose of this paper is to briefly outline the development of the Assessment Program over the past years. (Author/MV)