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 I 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. Montana educators 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.