A hot topic circulating through the halls of the education building of Rowan University is one of standardized testing, their efficacy, effectiveness, efficeincy and future in our nation’s educational sysystem. No one really likes taking tests. No matter how old you are, the “pressure to perform” is not always pleasant or comfortable. Tests are a fact of life; we have all had to take them, whether to pass the eighth grade (the GEPAs), high school (the HSPA), be accepted into college (SATs), graduate school (GREs), or take the BAR exam (LSATs). Unpleasant as they are, they are needed to assess students learning and understanding of what they are learning and gauge their academic proficiency. Another useful purpose for testing students is something I never considered until studying education last semester in a course titled: Teaching in the Learning Community I. Another useful reason for assessments or testing students is to see if we, as teachers, are effectively teaching our students. So, tests can measure our abilities as educators and serve as a implement of self-reflection. Having stated these arguments or justifications for the need to test students, I would like to throw out a question to those interested, whether students, teachers, professors, administrators, or parents: “Do you think it is advantageous or necessary for elementary school students be tested each year or would it be better for all invoved to only test basic skills every other year or every third year of a students educational career?” If not, “What years, in your opinion would be the most important?” I believe there is a growing disdain for standardized testing among future educators of America, and I am not exactly sure why. Is is that teachers are being forced to teach to the test and this phenomenon is stifiling creativity and innovation in the classroom? Could the reason be that standardized tests, as presently written, formatted and designed, are not holistic and a fair assessment of the various, multiple intelligences of a diverse student body? Whatever the reason, I sense a growing “itching” for change.