The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has developed a new generation of assessment tasks for evaluating student achievement in music. Using paper-and-pencil and performance formats, these tasks draw on the musical traditions of many cultures and historical periods. This report summarizes results from the 1997 assessment of eighth grade student achievement in the arts. Students were assessed in music and the visual arts using a nationally representative sample of all students, regardless of their background in music or the visual arts. The music sample data included about 2000 public and private school students. The assessment covered content and process. The content included knowledge and understanding of music and perceptual, technical, expressive, and intellectual/reflective skills. The processes included creating, performing, and responding. In 1995 NAEP field tested the assessment tasks for grades four (about 1500 students) and eight (about 1500 students). Twelfth-grade tasks, involving about 1,200 students, were field tested in 1997. The NAEP assessment used two types of tasks in the field tests: paper-and-pencil tasks and performance tasks. Paper-and-pencil tasks required students to respond to multiple choice questions about recordings, musical notation, and other stimuli. The performance tasks covered creating and performing music. The performance tasks were appropriate for students with and without formal music training. The scoring guides used for the paper-and-pencil tasks were inadequate, limited, or adequate. Scoring guides for the performance tasks were inadequate, limited, adequate, and developed. (JEH)