In urban elementary schools, considerable energy is focused on raising children's achievement in literacy. Literacy is central to learning in all subject areas throughout school, and in every aspect of literacy achievement--whether it's comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition, or writing. Research has shown that children in U.S. urban schools have significantly more difficulty than the overall population. From the 1990s on, a great deal of excellent work has focused on changing this situation. In this article, the author discusses a factor that can add significantly to the success of literacy instruction in urban settings: assessment. He also proposes several strategies for the successful implementation of literacy assessment programs that work.