The Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council convened a workshop in 1994 to help policymakers and others better understand the complex issues emerging from the standards-based educational reform movement. This bulletin synthesizes the workshop discussions. It is organized around four major themes that emerged from the presentations: (1) the implications of using standards as accountability tools; (2) the challenges of designing assessments related to standards; (3) the implications of building the new form of education federalism implied by standards-based reform; and (4) the challenges of strengthening the state and local capacities to implement standards and linked assessments. Each section contains a brief review of the main issue, a synthesis of the views raised during the workshop discussion, and a list of questions for further analysis. Steps that will have to be taken to make the vision of standards-based reform a reality are outlined. An appendix describes the workshop agenda and lists participants. (SLD)