As part of the test development process, this technical report is intended to present technical information from the tryout and the pilot stages of the Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) in Communication Arts: Reading. There are four major parts to this report. Part 1, Evolution of the HSPT in Communication Arts: Reading, introduces the purpose, the legislation, and the committees involved in test development. Development of the reading assessment framework and the structure of the framework are briefly described in this part. Part 2 provides an overview of the exercise development of the test. Part 3 summarizes the process used in sampling, the tryout design, the rating process for extended-response questions, reader reliability, test statistics and analyses, and other technical issues for the HSPT in Communication Arts: Reading tryout and pilot administrations. Summary results from student and teacher surveys conducted during the tryout stage are included in Part 4. Appendixes contain lists of committee members; checklists; scoring guides; expert panel recommendations; tryout and pilot statistics; survey instruments; and survey results. Contains 18 references. (RS)