Against a shifting set of assessment preferences in the US regarding whether educational assessment should continue to be a states rights game or become a federally dominated undertaking, the publication of five first-rate analyses about England's national curriculum assessment (NCA) is particularly propitious. Taken together, these five papers (Whetton 2009; Stobart 2009; Newton 2009; Wyse and Torrance 2009; Green and Oates 2009) in this special issue of "Educational Research" provide an insightful collection of views regarding the perils and payoffs of national educational assessments. Although the author thought the five papers, separately and in concert, were terrific, he is among those who view history's and other nations' "lessons" with great wariness. An assessment approach that might have worked wonderfully in England at a particular moment in time, and under the direction of an adroit administrator, might prove disastrous in the US if administered at a different time by a less adept leader. NCA "lessons" dare not be transplanted unthinkingly to other nations. If one remains alert to the possibility of such differences, the five papers about NCA are simply brimming with thought-provoking ideas over which some serious mulling is surely warranted. Here, the author shares a few words about each paper.