Most U.S. states have developed sophisticated assessment programs to evaluate student achievement and hold schools, teachers, and students accountable for learning important content. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) has placed further pressure on educators and administrators to ensure that all students are learning. Yet, some educators and researchers claim that test-based accountability has had detrimental effects on students' learning by causing teachers to focus on low-level knowledge and skills, resulting in less in-depth understanding and less focus on higher-order thinking skills (Jones, Jones, & Hargrove, 2003; Kohn, 2000). The purpose of this article is to examine one high-stakes test in Virginia to provide some evidence as to whether the test focuses primarily on basic skills or includes high-order thinking such as conceptual understanding and problem solving.