This report provides a blueprint for reorganizing the governing structure of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and suggests new procedures of test development and test administration that will increase the interpretability of the assessment while at the same time making more staff and monetary resources available for research and user services. Further, the plan includes provisions for protecting the trend analysis function of NAEP by assuring a satisfactory level of comparability between the new assessment and prior assessments. A number of fundamental changes are necessary if the objectives of greater efficiency and policy relevance are to be met. Among the recommended changes for NAEP are: (1) a full-time, professional staff for the Policy Assessment Committee; (2) the introduction of methods for developing objectives and items that are more cost efficient, provide for input from wider audiences, and result in a product that could be widely used by state and local school districts; (3) creation of a "national" item bank; (4) introduction of simplified methods of test administration; (5) revision of sampling procedures to eliminate cluster sampling; and (6) use of item domains. Primary type of information provided by the report: Program Description (Operating Policies); Procedures (Conceptual). (PN)