Rebecca Torchia is a web editor for EdTech: Focus on K–12. Previously, she has produced podcasts and written for several publications in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and her hometown of Pittsburgh.

An inescapable element of K-12 public education in the United States is testing. For many students and parents, testing has become ubiquitous. It feels like it is everywhere, every day, all the time.

Declining test scores across the U.S. cause concern. So do reports on student mental health and anxiety. Now that the 2023-24 school year is in session, standardized testing and other forms of student ...