On April 5, 2002, the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) entered into a compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to bring the state into compliance with the provisions of the following federal laws: Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1994, P.L. 103-382 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Montana received federal appropriations to develop an appropriate assessment. The criterion-referenced test (CRT) was developed in accordance with the compliance agreement and federal laws. The CRTs are based on, and aligned to, Montana?s Content Standards in Reading and Mathematics. worked with OPI and its contractor, Measured Progress, in the development and review (content and bias) of these tests to assess how well students have learned the Montana content standards for their grade. In school year 2003-04, grades 4, 8, and 10 were tested in reading and mathematics. In school year 2005-06, grades 3 through 8 and grade 10 will be tested in reading and mathematics and by school year 2007-08 one grade in each of three grade spans (e.g., four, eight, and ten) will be tested in science.