Tests that will be used to make consequential decisions need to meet higher technical standards than tests that are used for lower-stakes decisions. Rigorous technical standards are vital for assessments used to make decisions about student placement, attainment, and accountability. For instance, if students’ scores fluctuate significantly from one administration to the next purely by chance (low reliability), then real concerns arise that students might not be placed appropriately or, even worse, might be prevented from progressing to the next level in their schooling for arbitrary reasons unrelated to their academic ability. Concerns like these are the main reason that few large-scale accountability systems use performance assessments. When tests carry important consequences, it is critical that a student’s score not be influenced by an individual rater or task.
While the need for technical rigor for