Tests and assessment results are increasingly used as a basis
for important policy decisions in education. Large-scale testing
programs generate data that inform about which schools or programs
should be funded, which should be closed, who should be
rewarded, what types of programs should be developed, and who
should be informed that improvement is required if further assistance
is to be forthcoming. Public reporting of assessment data
by district or by school has become commonplace, as has the use
of these data for rewards and potential sanctions. These types of
decisions are known as high-stakes decisions (see Madaus, 1988;
National Research Council, 1997).