The Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center (HITEC) serves as a clearinghouse for implementing highway innovation by providing nationally-focused, collaborative evaluations of new products and technologies. This report, "Guidelines for Evaluating the Performance of Highway Sound Barriers", was developed as part of the HITEC evaluation plan for U.S. Gypsum's Sight and Sound Screen. The Sight and Sound Screen is a post-and-panel wall system designed to act as a sight and sound barrier for highways and as a privacy system for residential and commercial property owners. The HITEC evaluation will measure the performance of the Sight and Sound Screen against the criteria presented in this report, which reflect the needs of the highway community. While this evaluation plan was tailored to one product - as a service to state and local transportation officials - the report was expanded to provide guidelines that can be adapted for use with other types of sound wall systems.