The New Hampshire Department of education is mandated to fund and administer an annual assessment of student performance in grades 3, 6 and 10, using a test that is aligned with the New Hampshire Curriculum Frameworks in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.

The assessment is a criterion referenced test, which means it measures student proficiency in terms of state adopted standards of performance. It is not designed as a test to compare one student with others throughout the state or nation, but measure's individual student performance against the standards. By aggregating the scores, schools and districts can then track their success in teaching the concepts contained in the state curriculum frameworks.